2023-07-25 11:16:00
A Red Knot, the migratory bird that travels toward the arctic and has a stopover in San Antonio, made headlines for its longevity. And also the data had an impact on this coastal city, because the bird, which was sighted in Delaware, USA, was ‘ringed’ at least 26 years agos here
The banding consists to capture some of these birds (which arrive at the end of March) and identify them with a ‘banderilla’, to individualize them and enable their follow-up.
“This allows us to monitor them throughout their migration and learn more about the species. For this reason, when it was seen in the United States, it was learned that this bird had been ringed years ago in San Antonio, because of the style, color, and height of that identification ‘banderilla’,” said Patricia González, a local biologist who actively works with the species.
“This sandpiper was born in 1997, or even earlier, in the Canadian Arctic, and is therefore at least 26 years old. In this time he flew between Tierra del Fuego and his breeding sites in the Arctic a distance equivalent to a one-way trip to the Moon, returning to Earth and leaving again! These are record numbers for the species” the woman was enthusiastic about.
“We are facing wonderful news – he stressed – because this bird is a survivor of the great decline of the beginning of the century, that led its population to be declared in critical danger of extinction” explained González.
It should be remembered that Red Knots (Calidris canutus rufa) arrive every year from March to the San Antonio Bay Protected Natural Area.
They come from Tierra del Fuego, where they kept their non-breeding gray plumage, which they later began to shed for the red with which they will be seen later. They are prepared for reproduction. Previous courtship, mating and subsequent nesting will take place in the Canadian Arctic.
In San Antonio, before, they rest and eat to double their sizeand prepare for a flight in which they will travel more than 6000 km non-stop, until they make their next layover.
The discovery of the incredibly long-lived bird occurred in the month of May, and was made by Ryan Burrell and a team of migratory bird researchers in Delaware Bay (USA).
“Unfortunately they were unable to capture photos of the bird. But they realized that it had a very particular banding” continued the expert.
“They saw that it had an orange flag – whose color indicates that it was ringed in our country, Argentina – and that it was located on its right leg, at the height of its tibia, which is the position that indicates the place where it was marked. In this case, in our San Antonio bay. Also It had a very old blue ring, on the lower left leg (tarsus), as well as a metal ring on the left tibia” he listed.
“The flag was small and smooth, like the ones prior to 2001, the year in which flags with alphanumeric inscriptions began to be used. Besides the blue ring was simple, like the ones used by us in 1997 and 1998, unlike those of later years that were spiral-shaped. Originally, in addition, it had a red ring that it lost” the scientist recounted.
“During the migratory stopover to the north in Delaware, the sandpiper was observed on other occasions. Investigators hoped they could take a photo and try to read his metal ring, but they couldn’t do it,” lamented González.
However, the inquiries made among the scientific community that is part of the migration route helped confirm the data about ringing.
“¡It was ringed in San Antonio in March of 1998! And maybe it is the same bird that had already been sighted in Delaware by Richard du Feu, in 2019, because it was also missing the red ring. On that occasion he was able to read her metal ring and thus we were able to identify it ”.
The novelty was celebrated by biologistswho along the migration route work to preserve the species, currently in danger of extinction.
The decline of these birds is notorious even in this locality. Before, on his way to the Arctic, They arrived in San Antonio in flocks of 20,000 specimens, and now the birds that make up those groups are around 1,300.
“That’s why one of them has managed to survive so much and for so many years is excellent news” fthe expert finished.
B95, another famous sandpiper
B95, also known as Moonbird (the bird of the moon) is a reddish sandpiper that became world famous because traveled, during his migratory route, a greater distance than the one that separates the Earth from the Moon.
The biologist Patricia González “ringed” it (the process she uses to put a ‘flag’ to identify it and make it possible to track it) for the first time in 1995 in Río Grande, Tierra del Fuego, and in 2012 he ringed it again in Delawere Bay, in the United States.
Now, a new specimen disputes that record.
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