Cortes visits GONHS bird ringing operation

The Minister for the Environment, Dr John Cortes, recently visited the bird ringing operation run by GONHS (the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society) at its Upper Rock Nature Reserve premises at Jews’ Gate, where he received an update on recent records and the ongoing success of the project.

A qualified bird ringer himself, Dr Cortes observed the work being carried out at the site.

The ringing process can only be practised by trained ringers following the guidelines of the British Trust for Ornithology and licensed under the Gibraltar Nature Protection Act.

It involves catching birds with mist nests set up in appropriate habitat, carefully extracting them, ringing them, recording details such as plumage and moult, and weighing and measuring them before release.

When the birds are recovered, either locally or elsewhere, the information collected provides an indication of their lifespan and the journeys they may have undertaken.

During the visit, blackcaps and robins were the most common birds processed, with both species migrating from northern and central Europe to winter in the Mediterranean area, including Gibraltar.

Dr Cortes said: “It was great to be back at Jews’ Gate, like I used to do years ago, to assist in the ringing effort and monitor the migration and life of our smaller birds. Congratulations to GONHS for keeping this gathering of scientific data going through local and visiting ringers.”