Individual Tree Sparrows

RUTLAND WATER NATURE RESERVE

a partnership between

Anglian Water and Leicestershire & Rutland Wildlife Trust

Tree Sparrow project - some individual birds

A well known bird

This Tree Sparrow was pictured in March 2002 as it gathered nest-building material near the Lagoon I colony. Its rings are White over Metal (on the left leg) and White over Red (on the right) so it is known to the project team as W.M.W.R. Only this bird has this colour combination.

Tree Sparrow

Picture: Tim Caldicott

W.M.W.R bred for the first time in 2001, using nest box 46 on Lagoon 1 and just a few yards from its own natal site. Its first mate was DG.W.LB.M, another 1-year old bird of known parentage which had been ringed as a chick in a nest box alongside Lagoon II. They raised 5 young which were colour ringed on 25/5/2001. Of the five chicks two have never been seen again, one was last seen on 29/9/01, one on 4/1/02 and the last was seen until at least mid-March 2002.

However, the female DG.W.LB.M disappeared after 18/5/2001 but by July W.M.W.R had found a new mate and, with her, raised a clutch of 4 young in the same nest box. The new mate, R.LB.R.M had been ringed as an adult in January of that year and has subsequently been recorded on 44occasions. Their four young have not been seen since they were ringed.

Unfortunately, shortly after the photo above was taken, W. M. W. R disappeared, and was not seen at the feeding station after 5/4/02. He was not found to be breeding at any of our nest boxes in 2002 and has probably died. One of his offspring from 2001 has been seen regularly on the reserve in 2002. PI. DG. PI. M was last seen on 14/11/02, though we do not know if and where this bird bred in 2002. W. M. W. R‚'s second mate from 2001, R. LB. R. M, bred successfully three times in 2002, paired with a male with only a metal BTO ring. This pair raised a total of 13 chicks in a Lagoon 1 nest box. Of these four were seen at the reserve feeding station after fledging, but none has been since September.

Sparrow

Photo: Bob Jackson

Long distance travellers

What's special about this Tree Sparrow? ....
It's had a long haul flight! On its left leg, it has a white and a metal ring, while on its right, as you can see, there is a white and a dark green ring. So this bird's code is W.M.W.DG. The picture was taken at the feeding station at Summerleys Nature Reserve, near Great Doddington, Northants(43 km distant), but it was ringed as a chick at Rutland Water in the summer of 2000.

Another of our colour-ringed birds was seen elsewhere in 2001, again moving to Northamptonshire. DG. M.LB.PI was caught at Pitsford Nature Reserve (39 km distant) in November 2001. This bird was ringed as a chick on the reserve in July 2001.

Another bird, DG. M.PI .PU (a 2001 chick) was seen at the Ouse Washes RSPB reserve in January 2002, a distance of 58 km!

One other 2001 chick (our record breaker so far) was caught by another ringer in Suffolk in February 2002, over 160km away! This continues to beg the question‚ - where do they all go? We have now ringed over 2000 Tree Sparrows, about 13% of which are known to be breeding here, and a further seven(!) have turned up elsewhere. Are they dispersing or dying? If anyone sees colour-ringed tree sparrows away from our sites, please contact Rob Field at the Anglian Water Birdwatching Centre, Egleton.

Back to main Tree Sparrow Project page