KAUNAS (LITHUANIA) BIRD RINGING SCHEME

Report for the EURING General Assembly
(Chemnitz, Germany, August 21-22, 2003)

Lithuanian Bird Ringing Centre
Zoological Museum, Laisves aleja 106
LT-3000 Kaunas, Lithuania
E-mail: zcentras@takas.lt
Tel.: + 370-37-205870
Fax: + 370-37-229675 (Museum’s)

Scheme

The Kaunas (Lithuania) Bird Ringing Centre is a unit of the Zoological Museum in Kaunas and is not economically separate from the Museum. The Museum is a governmental authority (it is within a system of the Ministry of Environment of Lithuanian Republic).
In Lithuania the systematic bird ringing was started and goes on since 1929.

Staff

1 full-time scientific: Ricardas Patapavicius.
1 full-time technical: Danguole Kvedariene.
1 half-time computer specialist: Gediminas Balna.

Rings

Aluminum rings of 12 sizes and stainless steel rings of 5 sizes (total 13 sizes) are used. Since 1995 all rings are produced in Poland (“ARANEA”). Ringers do not pay for the rings.

Other equipment

The Bird Ringing Centre has not financial possibility to supply ringers with mist nets, spring balances, pliers, etc. Ringers himself also have no possibility to purchase equipments due to a low living standards in the country. The situation has a large negative impact on the results of bird ringing in the country.

Ringers

Number of active amateurs: 2001: 68; 2002: 70.
Number of active teams of ringers: 2001: 5; 2002: 6.
Ringing permits are issued by the Bird Ringing Centre.

Computerization

All recoveries since 1979 are coded in New EURING (1979) codes and are computerized. A computerization of the ringing data is not started yet. A FoxPro-database is used in the Centre.

Swallow project

Ringings & recoveries

Annual totals are as follows:

Dynamics of the number of birds and bird species ringed in Lithuania
during 20 last years period (1983-2002)

Compiled by Ricardas PATAPAVICIUS (Head of the scheme)

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