Wing Tagging Marsh Harriers Circus Aeruginosus in Norfolk |
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The Sex of nestling Marsh Harriers |
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Although for many years continental ringers had been using the
toe span method developed by the Dutch to sex Marsh Harrier nestlings in the nest it was
not used in Britain. North West Norfolk RG had been pioneering work on
developing the toe span method to sex Marsh Harrier nestlings using the Dutch
protocol prior to the wing tagging project and was able to present
enough evidence to the British Trust for Ornithology(BTO) for them
to adopt it. This means that it is now a mandatory prerequisite that
nestlings must be sexed before ringing with the correct size ring as
males and females take different size rings. Males must be fitted with
size F internal diameter 9.0mm and females size G internal diameter
11.0mm. The Project provided an ideal opportunity to develop the toe span method further with increased access to nests coming from participants in the project. Back to Marsh Harrier homepage
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