Monitoring Bird Populations
Killycolpy Constant Effort Site (CES)
The Lough Neagh Partnership Ranger Team has worked in collaboration with the Belfast & Down Ringing Group, and we have just completed the second year of our bird ringing project at Killycolpy. Bird ringing involves fitting a uniquely numbered ring around a bird’s leg, allowing us to identify birds as individuals. If these individuals are recaptured, we can gather information on how long they live and gain insights into their migration routes and wintering areas.
A Constant Effort Site (CES) allows us to monitor bird populations over time, including abundance, breeding success, and productivity. It provides insight into the movements of birds on their migration routes. A CES involves 12 visits from the beginning of May to the end of August. Each visit lasts the same amount of time, and the mist nets are placed in the same location on each occasion to maintain a “constant” survey effort. Changes in the number of adult birds caught provide a measure of population size, while the proportion of young birds caught indicates breeding success.
This year, we have caught and processed a total of 259 birds. Our volunteer ringers have contributed 72 hours of volunteer work to the project.
If you would like any further infomation on this project, contact ciara.laverty@loughneaghpartnership.org
