What do the colourful rings tell us?

When people see ringed cranes, the first question that springs to mind is what those colourful things on the birds’ legs are. The rings we fit serve various scientific purposes. By reading the rings, we can track family groups, pairings, breeding sites, behaviour and the lifespan of cranes. The colours of the rings are not chosen at random; they act as a sort of ID card for the cranes. The left leg bears the country code (two blue rings would correspond to Germany), whilst the right leg bears the individual identification code, making each combination unique.

In addition, the cranes are measured at this stage to gain an insight into the young bird’s age and state of health.

Would you like to support us in this time-consuming work? Then become a crane’s ring sponsor and follow the life of ‘your’ crane on iCORA.de.

You can find more information on our website, in the ‘Highlights’ section under ‘Donations’, or you can ask us directly when you visit KRANICHWELTEN. We’re sure to have a few anecdotes to share about bird ringing too.

Photos: © Melanie Nentwig, Anika Hohenwaldt