Admin: Michael Brooks Copyright: 2025
Bird ringing/banding is the process whereby registered ringers permanently mark wild birds to study their lifecycles (births, deaths, age of breeding and survival rates), habits, populations and movements. To do this metal rings (marked with unique numbers) are attached to the bird for future identification.
We at SAFRING administer all bird ringing within Southern Africa, supplying rings, ringing equipment and services to volunteer and professional ringers. SAFRING curates all the southern African ringing records on site and maintains a close relationship between all other ringing schemes.
We encourage everyone to actively take part in sighting and reporting all ringed birds to us, and we hope to hear from you soon.
Read Birdlife South Africa's Position Statement on Bird Ringing.
How to qualify for a SAFRING licence
Bird ringing requires mastery of several core skills. These include proficiency in the use of ringing equipment and the ability to conduct the entire bird ringing process (capture, extraction, ‘storage’, handling, and release) safely and ethically from the birds’ perspective. Qualified bird ringers should be able to identify captured birds to species, and to determine sex and age where possible – or at least have access to resources which would enable them to accurately collect this information. Bird ringers should also be able to accurately record the morphometrics and moult of all captured birds, enter all these data in a spreadsheet, and submit them to SAFRING’s bird ringing database.
All bird ringers also need to ethically and safely conduct bird ringing from a human societal perspective, which includes avoiding risk and injury to ringers and others, respecting the public and landowners, and adhering fully to the relevant legislation and permitting requirements.
To qualify as a SAFRING ringer, the following procedure should be followed. The minimum acceptable requirements to qualify for a licence are as follows:
For a SAFRING licence, new ringers are required to:
Note:
The A-permit ringers recommending the new ringer should independently evaluate overall skills. Evidence of formal evaluation of these acquired skills is preferred. Such evaluations may eventually become a strict requirement when SAFRING adopts a standard evaluation process.
Evidence of formal evaluation of these acquired skills is preferred, and will be at the discretion of the A-permit ringers recommending the new ringer. Such evaluations may eventually become a strict requirement when SAFRING adopts a standard evaluation process.
Bird ringed by trainees should include the trainees’ full name (or SAFRING number if applicable) in the secondary ringer column on the ringing data upload sheet. These uploads will serve as a formal record of the ringing experience a trainee has accumulated. The minimum numbers above are guidelines; exceptions can be made with strong justifications from the A-ringers who recommend the trainee.
Specialised capture methods, such as Bal-Chatri traps and nestling ringing, are not included in an initial SAFRING permit, as they require specialised training. Recommendations would be required from ringers experienced in these capture methods and with these techniques, as stated on their SAFRING permits.
The relevant provincial conservation authority permit must also be obtained prior to any ringing taking place, regardless of trapping method. Where applicable, written landowner permission is required prior to ringing.
Foreign ringers
Bird ringers with a valid bird ringing licence from an established bird ringing scheme that is associated with SAFRING are eligible for SAFRING licenses without additional training. Where applicable, these ringers should demonstrate their ability to identify African bird species in the region where they intend to ring. If appropriate, SAFRING may initially issue a restricted permit, either geographically restricted or taxon-specific, to these ringers. Ringers gaining a SAFRING licence via this route should at the outset have an agreed link to an existing A-licence SAFRING ringer who would be responsible for helping to familiarise them with SAFRING ringing standards and data-upload protocols.
Research-related ringing
A researcher affiliated or working with a recognised research institution or facility and working on specific species or systems is eligible for a restricted SAFRING ringing license. The full SAFRING training is not required in this case, but the researcher must demonstrate the ability to safely and ethically capture and process their study species. In addition, if they plan to use animal subjects as live bait/lures in traps, ethical clearance must be obtained from a registered and recognised animal ethics committee. Researchers would need a recommendation from at least one, but preferably two, experienced licensed SAFRING ringer(s) in possession of either a full A-permit or a restricted permit for the specified study species and with ongoing ringing experience for more than five years within SAFRING or an established international ringing scheme.
Bird ringing after a long (≥ 5 years) absence from ringing
Qualified A-licence ringers who have not actively ringed for at least five years are required to participate in a refresher session with another SAFRING A-ringer who must send a recommendation to SAFRING for renewal of the SAFRING licence.
In exceptional cases, this refresher could be waived, but this will be dealt with on a case-by-case basis, and the decision to waive the ‘refresher’ requirement rests with the SAFRING steering committee.