Bird number dynamics during the post-breeding period at the Tömörd Bird Ringing Station, western Hungary

Abstract

Abstract The fieldwork, i.e. catching and ringing birds using mist-nets, was conducted at Tömörd Bird Ringing Station in western Hungary during the post-breeding migration seasons in 1998-2016. Altogether, 106,480 individuals of 133 species were ringed at the station. The aim of this paper was to publish basic information on passerine migration at this site. Migration phenology was described through annual and daily capture frequencies. Furthermore, we provide the median date of the passage, the date of the earliest or latest capture, the peak migration season within the study period, and the countries where the birds monitored at the site were ringed or recovered abroad. To compare the catching dynamics for the fifty species with total captures greater than 200, a reference period was defined: from 5 Aug. to 5 Nov. 2001-2016. Some non-passerines that are more easily caught with mist-nets or that are caught occasionally were listed as well. The two superdominant species, the European Robin and the Eurasian Blackcap, with 14,377 and 13,926 total captures, made up 27% of all ringed individuals. Among the fifty species analysed, there were ten species with a decreasing trend, five species with an increasing trend and thirty-five species with a stable (or uncertain) trend in their numbers from 2001 to 2016. The temporal pattern of migration of long-distance migrants was different from that of the medium- and short-distance migratory species.