One of the key aims of bird ringing is to estimate how well birds surviva, and hence how long they live. Longevity lists were intially compiled in the 1970s by W. Rydzewski and published several times in the journal The Ring. These lists were the basis for updated lists published by Roland Staav in EURING Newsletters in 1998 and 2001. The list has successively been updated during recent years, and the most recent version was compiled in September 2023: Longevity list September 2023
It is important to note that birds ringed as full-grown or adults have been included with a minimum age based on age at ringing (start of year set to 1st of July) and in those recoveries are age preceded by a >. That is, an adult may have been alive 2, 3 or more years before ringing; we cannot know exactly how long, so provide a minimum estimate.
Where possible, we include the two oldest individuals of a species ringed in Europe, with a minimum age for a recovery to be included of five years.
All schemes are kindly requested to support updates of this list. New longevity records (either oldest or second oldest) should be sent to the bird ringing centre at the Swedish Museum of Natural History in Stockholm by email.
You can also view the longevities of North American birds, compiled by the Bird Banding Lab
