Page 11 - Chituc Ringing Camp Report 2014-2019

ABSTRACT

Due to its NE-SW orientation, between Lake Sinoe and the Black Sea, Chituc Spit is one of the best locations for studying the migration
of songbirds in Romania. After a 17 year long pause, Milvus Group Association relaunched its annual Autumn ringing camp in 2014, with the
aim of studying the migration dynamics of passerine species. The birds were caught by mist-nets installed in a standard configuration
preserved since 2014 (260 m) and by additional mist-nets installed later on (112 m).

In the last six years of ringing 85.557 individuals of 161 species were caught, the most abundant species being: red-breasted flycatcher
(Ficedula parva, 8.667 individuals), robin (Erithacus rubecula, 8.650 individuals), sedge warbler (Acrocephalus schoenobaenus, 7.345
individuals), blue tit (Cyanistes caeruleus, 6.203 individuals), Eurasian reed warbler (Acrocephalus scirpaceus, 5.805 individuals), willow
warbler (Phylloscopus trochilus, 4.874 individuals), chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita, 4.646 individuals) and red-backed shrike (Lanius collurio,
4.551 individuals). With the 9.340 birds ringed in 1996 and 1997, the first two years of the camp, the total number of ringed birds rises to
94.897. Here, we present the migration dynamics of 15 species.

In the eight years, the ringing camp had five national and ten international recaptures, and five individuals bearing foreign rings were
resighted or recaptured at the camp.

The ringing camp contributed with six new additions to the avifaunistic list of Romania, namely: Pallas’s leaf warbler (Phylloscopus
proregulus) and greenish warbler (Phylloscopus trochiloides) in 1996, desert warbler (Sylvia nana) in 2017, green warbler (Phylloscopus nitidus)
and rustic bunting (Emberiza rustica) in 2016 and red-flaked bluetail (Tarsiger cyanurus) in 2017.

The data gathered during the Chituc Ringing Camp contributes to the identification of migration dynamics of some species and the
long-term monitoring can help shape a real picture about migratory and, implicitly, breeding population dynamics of species crossing the
study site.

11