Bonxie ringed in 1989 is discovered at Hermaness

A BONXIE has been found at Hermaness in Unst some 27 years after it was ringed there as a chick.

The bird, which is now a corpse, was discovered by Matthew Guy who is carrying out research at the National Nature Reserve for his PhD at Stirling University.

The dead bird bore a combination of coloured leg rings and a uniquely numbered metal ring.

Hermaness warden Rachel Cartwright sent the number to the British Trust for Ornithology, whose database confirmed that it was ringed as a chick in 1989. The Hermaness warden at the time was current Baltasound Junior High School teacher Mike Pennington.

Matthew said the corpse was “relatively fresh and so we can assume that the bird was at least 26 when it died”.

Juan Brown of Scottish Natural Heritage said that “although this is a respectable age for any bird, it is not a record. The oldest bonxie [great skua] recovered was 34. The oldest Britsh bird on record is a Manx shearwater, aged 50, while the oldest known wild bird in the world is a Laysan albatross in Hawaii, which is at least 65 years old. Seabirds are notoriously long-lived.”

He added that nature reserves such as Hermaness and Noss provided opportunities for long-term research and monitoring: “Seabirds are affected by factors such as fish stocks, pollution and climate change and as such act as barometers of the health of the wider marine environment.” 

• Anyone who finds a ringed bird is asked to send the details by email to recoveries@bto.org.