Bird trapping and ringing

In the area of Sečovlje Salina, the bird trapping and ringing activities have been carried out primarily for the purpose of studying the occurrence of hardly detectable species in the area under consideration.

Birds were trapped with nylon nets, systematically mostly in the area of Stojbe (Fig. 129), and unsystematically at other sites within the area under consideration. With the data gathered here by other bird ringers during the last few decades, more accurate data on migration of passerine birds across the salina could have been obtained, but there is a number of data from this trapping station that still remains unprocessed and unpublished.

Kentish Plover Charadrius alexandrinus is a highly endangered species in Slovenia that occasionally breeds in the area of Sečovlje Salina. As we were trying to establish whether (mostly) our Kentish Plovers overwinter in this area as well, we embarked on systematic trapping of adult Kentish Plovers in April 2007 during the breeding period. This was carried out with special spring nets; the trapped birds were systematically marked with colour and aluminium rings. The PVC ring on the left leg indicated the area in which the bird bred (e.g. Lera = blue, Fontanigge = red), while the combination of colour PVC and aluminium rings with a code on the right leg indicated a breeding pair (Fig. 128). For their easier and quicker recognition, the Kentish Plovers were given special names. As trapping was carried out during the day only, the share of caught females was somewhat higher, given that they are known to incubate largely during the day, whereas the more colourful and therefore more visible males incubate predominantly during the night.