A SHORT HISTORY OF BIRD RINGING IN LITHUANIA

In Lithuania, a systematic bird ringing was initiated by the Lithuanian University in 1929. The initiator of this activity was Prof. Tadas Ivanauskas (1882–1970).

Total 380 of birds belonging to 26 species were ringed by 31 ringers in Lithuania in 1929. The majority of ringed birds were ringed as nestlings and only 19 of birds belonging to seven species were ringed as full-grown. The top species were Common Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), White Storks (Ciconia ciconia), Barn Swallows (Hirundo rustica).

German rings “Vogelwarte Rossitten” provided by Rossitten Ornithological Station (the first Ornithological Station in the World founded on the Curonian Spit in 1901) were used for bird ringing in Lithuania in the beginning. Original Lithuanian rings were produced and started to use in 1931. The inscriptions on these rings were as follows: UNIVERSITE LITHUANIE or UNIVERSITE KAUNAS LITHUANIE. Later these inscriptions were changed to MUS ZOOL LITHUANIE and MUS ZOOL KAUNAS LITHUANIE.

Since 1952 rings with an inscription “MOSKWA” were also used for ringing bird in Lithuania. These rings had been used only because of pressure from Bird Ringing Centre of so called USSR. The last bird with such ring was ringed in Lithuania in 1983.

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