Ring, Ring Ye Birds - British Trust for Ornithology

Forget ‘five gold rings’, how about 866,000 alloy ones?

A new report from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) highlights the latest findings from wild bird ringing activities across the UK and Ireland.

Volunteer ornithologists have been catching and ringing wild birds in Britain and Ireland for over a century, revealing extraordinary insights into how long they live and how far they move, helping us to understand the drivers behind population and distribution changes.

The newly published BTO Ringing and Nest Recording Report shows that in 2024, licensed bird ringers caught and ringed a total of 865,934 wild birds. Each bird’s ring has a unique number inscribed, and if re-caught or sighted alive, or indeed discovered dead, this allows researchers to work out how long the average individual lives, and whether their lifespans are increasing or decreasing over time.

Dr Ellie Leech, Head of the British and Irish Ringing Scheme, says “We also get information on how far birds move, be it just down the road for a typical House Sparrow, or all the way down to Africa for Swallows and Nightingales. The number of young birds caught each summer also documents how successfully species are breeding, and again, whether this has changed over time. None of this would be possible without the hard work and dedication of our 3,000 licensed bird ringers, for which we are hugely grateful.”

New longevity records set in 2024 include Britain’s oldest known Honey-buzzard, ringed in August 2006 and still going strong in 2024. The rare and secretive bird of prey, which migrates from tropical Africa to breed in Europe, was seen just 38 km away from where it was originally ringed as a nestling almost two decades earlier, demonstrating just how site-faithful these birds can be.