ETHICAL QUESTIONS RAISED OVER BIRD-RINGING DEMONSTRATION AT GLOBAL BIRDFAIR

Please release me! Juvenile great tit feels the pressure

A 'highlight' of Global Birdfair was the bird-ringing demonstration which attracted plenty of curious visitors over the three days.

But was what went on right? Was it ethical?

The songbirds were being trapped out of sight in a copse on the edge of Rutland Showground, venue for the event, ringed, then retained for a few minutes to provide photo-opportunities.

Onlookers were fascinated, but not all were happy with what they saw.

"The stress on those small birds must have been immense," said one woman. "They were helpless. Their hearts must have been going ten to a dozen."

The terror would have been greatest for any birds unlucky enough to have been flailing in a mistnet trap when a sparrowhawk came calling in search of easy quarry.

 

The raptor was itself caught and had the indignity, temporarily,  of being incarcerated in an empty Pringles tube as its vital statistics were taken. 

One observer expressed disquiet that birds were being "harvested", not for research but for the short-term entertainment of humans.

"Some  were being trapped, then re-trapped the following day,"he said. 

"It represented the  worst form of human bird disturbance from so-called conservationists - and with next-to-nil prospect of any meaningful research gains.

"The welfare of the bird should always take priority. That is the first rule of birding, and it was being disregarded.

"I am a long-standing member of the BTO but will seriously consider whether to renew."

                                           

Blackcap, chiffchaff and treecreeper were among the species ringed 

The incident involving the sparrowhawk was posted on social media