Bird-ringing in Singapore for a better understanding

Ong Dai Lin, Today Online 9 Feb 10;

SINGAPORE - On his round last October to check the mist nets in the Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve (SBWR), he spotted a black and yellow bird stuck in one of the nets.

Assistant conservation officer Ramakrishnan Kolandavelu recognised the bird as a male Yellow-rumped Flycatcher and was thrilled.

While female Yellow-rumped Flycatchers had been caught in the mist nets previously, that was the first time its male counterpart had been trapped since SBWR began its bird-ringing programme in 1990.

Mr Ramakrishnan told MediaCorp that bird-ringing is a vital source of information: "Books don't teach you about how birds move and the areas that should not be disturbed in the reserve when we do pruning."

The bird-ringing process is conducted every two weeks. It begins with staff putting up mist nets that are each 18 metres long in different parts of the reserve.

Birds that fly into the nets are trapped in its pockets, and checks on the nets are conducted every 30 minutes.

A ring band with an identification number is placed on the right leg of the trapped bird and information about the bird is recorded before it is released back into the wild.

If the trapped bird has a ring on its leg, this means it had been tagged previously and updated information about it will be recorded.

The process of checking the mist nets and tagging the birds is carried out throughout the day.

The information collected not only helps SBWR learn about migratory birds and their behaviour, but also how the reserve contributes to the conservation of birds, said SBWR's assistant director James Gan.

Bird-ringing has enabled SBWR to identify about nine new species of birds.

While the number may seem small, it is significant as it helps to identify birds that would otherwise have escaped the eyes of the staff, said Mr Gan.

Only trained staff can conduct bird-ringing as they need to know the proper techniques of handling the trapped bird to prevent traumatising it.

Besides internal training, the staff are also trained by an instructor from the British Trust for Ornithology.

On average, some 700 birds are ringed annually. About 12,600 birds have been ringed in the last twenty years.

Said Mr Gan: "Singapore has quite a good bird-ringing programme with good standards. We have come up with a set methodology and have proper training for our staff. Going forward, we will work on improving the standards of bird-ringing in Singapore."