A nursery of African Sacred Ibis chicks at Rondevlei Nature Reserve with an individually colour ringed bird, November 2005 |
How far do juvenile waterbirds disperse after breeding? Do they return to their birthplace to breed? Do they move around between different wetland sites on a regular basis? These and other fascinating questions about how certain waterbirds use wetlands will hopefully be answered through a colour-ringing study of colonial waterbirds that got underway this breeding season (2002) at various localities in and around the Cape peninsula.
Initiated as part of CWAC and SAFRING projects, this study will focus largely on Sacred Ibis and Cattle Egret, two species' whose size and colonial breeding habits make them perfect candidates for such a study. However, other colonial breeders (inc. spoonbill, herons and night-herons) will also be targeted, where possible.
In keeping with the projects's objectives, pre-fledging birds will be the main focus of the ringing component of this study. Adult waterbirds are generally very difficult to catch, but as juveniles remain flightless until fledging, they are easier to catch and ring. In addition, juvenile Sacred Ibis form relatively large nurseries once they leave the nest, and this allows for large numbers (up to 100 birds) to be caught and ringed during a single ringing session.
All birds caught will be fitted with, at least, a SAFRING metal ring and a single site-colour ring. The colour-rings will be specific to a locality so that we can identify where the bird was originally ringed, while the position of the metal and site colour-ring on the legs will indicate the year or season in which they were ringed. Some birds will also be individually colour-marked using additional colour rings. The ring codes and colour-cominations for each year are given below.
| Year | Basic SITE CODE | Unique colour-combinations | Example |
| 2002 | METAL on right tarsus COLOUR on left tarsus. |
None |  |
| 2003 | METAL on left tarsus COLOUR on right tarsus |
Additional colours placed above site colour, above metal ring or on left/right tibia. | 
|
| 2004 | METAL on right tibia COLOUR on left tibia |
Additional colours placed above site colour, above metal ring or on left/right tarsus. | 
|
| 2005 | METAL on left tibia COLOUR on right tibia |
Additional colours placed above site colour, above metal ring or on left/right tarsus. | 
|
| 2006 | METAL on right tarsus COLOUR on right tibia |
Additional colours placed above site colour, above metal ring or on left/right tarsus. Also individually colour-coded rings. |
|
| 2007 | METAL on left tarsus COLOUR on left tibia |
Additional colours placed above site colour, above metal ring or on left/right tarsus. Also individually colour-coded rings. | 
|
The colour rings used for individual sites include the following:
| Rondevlei Nature Reserve | Red |
| Paarl Bird Sanctuary | Yellow |
| Robben Island | Green |
| Zeekoeivlei | Blue |
| Intaka Island | White |
Click on a link to get an update and summary of birds ringed to date:
You can make an important contribution to this study by becoming a RingWatcher. Launched as part of the Hartlaub's Gull colour-ringing project in 2000, ring-watching will add more excitement to your birding each time you visit a wetland.
To ring-watch all you have to do is be on the lookout in the coming months (and years) for any of the birds that have been colour-ringed at Rondevlei, Paarl Bird Sanctuary and/or Robben Island. If you do see any of the above species with a red, yellow or green ring please report your sighting to SAFRING as soon as possible and include the following information:
All ringwatchers reporting re-sightings will be acknowledged.
Should you know of other localities with large, active heronries please contact Doug.
This project has been funded in part by the National Research Foundation, Rondevlei Nature Reserve and the Tygerberg Bird Club
