💭7.7 Conflicted Feelings on Ringing

Are we helping birds or just tagging them like products?

After almost a year of bird ringing, I’ve hit a wall. On the surface, ringing seems harmless. It’s supposed to help track migration, monitor populations, and protect species. That’s the official line.

But the more birds I’ve handled, the more doubts creep in. We say it doesn’t hurt them, but can we really be sure? If I were a bird, flying free, and someone slapped a ring on my leg for life, I’d hate it. It’s like being netted, cuffed, and released with a permanent reminder of human interference.

The individual bird gets no say. Maybe the bigger bird population benefits. But the one bird? Not so much. It starts to feel like a trade-off… science gains, individual suffers.

I’ve also wondered: what happens if a predator eats that ringed bird? Does the ring harm the predator? What’s the real difference between today’s lightweight ring and the arrows people used centuries ago to track birds? Size? Materials? Pain?

I’m caught in the middle. I’m part of a team that won’t stop ringing. They need people, and if I back out, they’ll just hire someone else. So maybe I’ll still do it. But I’m not sure I should.

Might be time to reach out to Dr. Bexell. I need to talk this through with someone who gets it.