‘Tarsus’ program: towards a uniform criterion to determine recommended ring sizes for birds in the Aranzadi Ringing Scheme

ABSTRACT

Above all, bird ringing must be safe for birds, for ethical reasons but also to ensure that data collection is not biased by marking effects. Bird ringing schemes are responsible for determining the size of the rings used to mark birds individually. This paper critically reviews the recommended ring sizes in the Aranzadi Ringing Scheme and proposes an objective criterion for ringers. A morphological analysis of tarsus width (MTW) and the width of the tibia–tarsus articulation (MAW), over a sample of more than 4000 individuals of 74 species of both passerines and non-passerines captured in Spain, revealed that the mean difference between the internal diameter of the recommended ring (IDR) and MTW was 32% in relation to MTW (sd 15.8%, 95% confidence interval 28–35%). Experience demonstrates that this clearance is adequate, but recommendations for rings with clearances either too narrow (<6%) or too wide (>50–60%) should be reviewed and changed, if possible, to bring them closer to a 32% standard.

KEYWORDS:

• bird ringing schemes
• bird safety
• ring size
• tarsus

Acknowledgements

We are grateful to the ringers who collaborated with the ‘Tarsus’ initiative and provided the measurements used in this work. The Aranzadi Ringing Scheme is supported by the Basque Government, the Regional Councils (Diputaciones) of Álava, Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa, and our own resources within the Aranzadi Sciences Society.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).