Bewick’s Swans with yellow neckcollar
Introduction
In 1985/1986 this project was started to know
more about various aspects of the behaviour of the Bewick’s Swan, especially
during the winter season.
Total number of marked
individuals
From the 1985/1986 season onwards a total of
502 swans were caught in The Netherlands and Germany, mostly with canonnets (for
a demonstration of a canonnet click here). The first
5 seasons the birds were marked with legrings. To increase the number of
reports all birds caught since 1990/1991 were marked with a YELLOW neckcollar
(375 different individuals so far). During 1998/1999 18 birds were caught, all
of them in Germany in March 1999. During the 1999/2000 season 11 individuals
have been marked, also in Germany.
Number of reports
In the 1999/2000 season 3200 reports of 120
different swans were received from about 200 observers. The mean number of
reports per bird during that season was 27 (new-ringed swans excluded from
calculation). This was a little higher than in the previous season. Seasonal
reports of the 1999/2000 season will be sent to the observers on 21st February 2001.
Distribution of reports
Of all different birds reported during
1999/2000 80% were seen in Germany, 78% in The Netherlands, 20% in the United
Kingdom, 11% in Estonia, 3% in Denmark, 3% in France, 2% in Poland, 2% in
Switzerland, 1% in Sweden, 1% in Belgium and 1% in Latvia. For the first time more different birds were seen in Germany than in The
Netherlands. A pair of swans which were marked in eastern Germany in early
November 1999 wintered in Switzerland, a country where the Bewick’s Swan is a
rarity. On their return journey they were found near Strasbourg in NE France on
26 February. Two 2 days later they were seen near the site of ringing. Another
bird was seen in NE France in early December 1999 and was seen 3 weeks later in
the Camargue at the Mediterranean coast near Marseille where about 75 birds are
present during winter. Furthermore one bird was seen in SE Poland near the
border of the Ukraine.
Birds not seen in 1998/1999 but returning in 1999/2000
In 1999/2000 no Bewick’s Swans
which were not observed during 1998/1999 were reported. So far only 7 cases of
birds missing one winter are known. It has not yet occured that birds returned
after missing more than one winter.
Birds recovered dead
Since
the last report no birds were reported dead. We have not received a recovery
for more than 2 years.
Reports to the observers
Everybody who does report observations of
Bewick’s Swans with a yellow neckcollar to us will once a year receive a report
with all observations from the same winter he or she reported, together with
the ringing details. These season-reports are scheduled for October/November of
each year.
Request for help
Observers are asked to look for marked Bewick’s
Swans. Please sent your reports of Bewick’s Swans with a yellow neck-collar
directly to us. Please report, beside the ringcode, the date of observation and
the exact locality, also details about social status, number of juveniles with
the marked individual, food/habitat, flocksize etc. All these details are very
important to us. To produce reliable season-reports it is extremely important
to be 100% certain about the code on the neckcollar! Please you’re your
observations to us before 1st July so we can distribute our reports
as soon as possible to the observers. If you are not able to sent reports to us
before 1st July or if you have reports from previous seasons we are
still interested in these reports. You will always receive a season-report of
the birds you saw!
Sent your reports to the projectcoordinator:
Trinus Haitjema
It Heechhout 7
8723 ES
Koudum
The Netherlands
e-mail: info@cygnet.nl.com
