Osprey falls to its death as RSPB staff try to ring it
AN OSPREY chick died after falling from its nest while two members of a bird protection charity were trying to ring it.
The ‘heart-breaking accident’ happened near Huntly, Aberdeenshire, where the chick was being ringed as part of a scheme that has been running for more than 50 years.
Ringing birds is a technique used all over the world for collecting information, including details about a species’ habitat requirements and migratory behaviour.
A spokesman for RSPB Scotland said: ‘A tragic error at the top of the tree led to a chick falling to the ground from the nest, resulting in the death of the bird.
‘In more than 50 years of ringing osprey chicks in Scotland, this is only the second incident we are aware of where an osprey chick has died as part of the procedure.’
The charity said it was ‘extremely sad’ to report the ‘unfortunate’ accident.
Scores of ospreys have been marked in this way since the fish-eating raptors returned to Scotland as a breeding bird in the 1950s. Conservationists say the activity has made a ‘huge contribution’ to understanding the conservation requirements of the birds.
Ringing teams also regularly help birds by strengthening vulnerable nests, which may otherwise be blown away by high winds, removing fishing wire from chicks and taking other dangerous plastic out of nests.
The RSPB says all of these threats have previously resulted in chicks dying.
Ringing is licensed by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), which will study a report into the incident.
RSPB Scotland said: ‘The threeperson team that were involved in this case are all highly experienced, licensed and were following the strict BTO osprey ringing protocol to which all practitioners adhere. This heart-breaking accident has left everyone involved distraught.
‘A full report of the incident will be sent to the BTO ringing committee and we will be taking on board any recommendations to ensure the chances of such an incident happening again are minimised.’
It also emerged yesterday two capercaillie – one juvenile and one adult – were killed in a ringing accident last year when staff from the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust fitted necklace radio tags at an unidentified location in the Highlands.
The necklace loops were the wrong size and one bird got its leg caught in the neck loop and the other bird got its mandible caught. A review by Scottish Natural Heritage found the ringers had been operating within the terms of their licence.
However, it said that as a result of ‘lessons learned’, permission for anyone to fit tags to the necks of male capercaillie had been withdrawn due to the extended growth period of the birds and their large adult size.
‘A tragic error at top of the tree’