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Environmentalist Kerry Leonard writes the next in
his series of exclusive wildlife reports for Breathing Places.
Five Smarties
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Five Smarties. That is, five Smarties are the same weight
as a Goldcrest, the UK and Ireland’s smallest bird.
That puts into perspective the amazing journeys undertaken
by this five gram marvel. We know that many of ‘our’
Goldcrests spend the winter in south-east England and on
the near continent. Other birds arrive in Ireland from Scandinavia
and spend the winter here. These tiny waifs live on the
edge, needing to feed constantly in order to survive, yet
can make journeys of thousands of miles.
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At this time of year most of our summer migrant species
are long gone and have arrived in Africa. The majority of
our summer visitors, such as the Willow Warbler and Sedge
Warbler, cross the Sahara to wintering quarters in west
and central Africa. Ringing recoveries have shown that Northern
Irish Swallows reach eastern and southern Africa. However
as they leave millions of thrushes, geese, swans and ducks
are arriving in Northern Ireland for the winter.
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Yet many people do not realise that their familiar garden
birds are also migrants. Wintering blackbirds on your lawn
could come from Eastern Europe, Robins from Scandinavia,
Starlings from Poland. Some of the Black-headed Gulls eating
bread at your local pond or lake may have nested on Lough
Neagh, but equally some may have come from Russia.
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Practically everything we know about the movement of birds
today comes from Bird Ringing. Marking birds with small
metal numbered rings has allowed us to map out the migration
routes of the majority of bird species in the UK. And ringing
is a vital tool for monitoring the breeding success and
survival of our birds. The ringing scheme is one hundred
years old in 2009
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