Forty Years of Activity of the Waterbird Research Group Kuling Ringing Team

Abstract Over the years, long-term operating bird ringing schemes based on standardized methods proved to be very useful in providing insights into avian biology. On the Polish Baltic Coast, the Waterbird Research Group KULING is one such program, with a 40-year-long history of ringing birds for the purpose of studying their movements, site fidelity, morphometric changes, and monitoring their population trends. Our efforts focused mostly on non-passerine birds associated with aquatic habitats. Since 1983, WRG KULING ringed 153 746 individuals from 189 species, with 66% of those being waders of 35 species, 19% gulls and terns of 22 species, and 6% of other waterbirds such as ducks and rails representing 49 species. Among passerines, only wagtails and pipits were extensively studied, with 9,941 individuals from 10 species ringed in that time. A total of 6,195 ring recoveries from outside of Poland present an insight into migration patterns, as well as wintering and breeding ecology of captured species. An even larger number of 14617 ring recoveries from within Poland largely comes from a citizen science program ‘LOOP’ developed by WRG KULING in 2013. This program allowed for studying different aspects of avian ecology on a more local scale. WRG KULING is an example of a student’s initiative, which developed into a large project connecting academics, naturalists, conservation managers, and bird enthusiasts in a common goal of studying and protecting birds in this region of Europe.