Leg problems and banding-associated leg injuries in a closely monitored population of North Island robin (Petroica longipes)
Åsa Berggren A B and Matthew Low AA Ecology Group, Massey University, Private Bag 11-222, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
B Corresponding author. Present address: Department of Entomology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, PO Box 7044, Uppsala, Sweden. Email: asa.berggren@entom.slu.se
Wildlife Research 31(5) 535-541 https://doi.org/10.1071/WR03058
Submitted: 8 July 2003 Accepted: 1 July 2004 Published: 13 December 2004
Abstract
Although plastic and metallic leg bands are widely used for identifying individual birds to assist population monitoring, the health risks associated with banding are quantified relatively rarely. We recorded the general occurrence of foot and leg injuries during a four-year study of the North Island robin (Petroica longipes) and assessed the probability of banding–injury relationships. While most leg problems were not obviously related to banding (transient lameness, congenital deformity, infection, fracture), on 10 occasions individuals experienced lameness or injury directly because of the presence of bands (~2.5% of individuals per year). In eight of these instances, individual robins caught their back toe (hallux) in between a band and their tarsus. This resulted in an inability to place the affected foot on the ground, and in some cases a pedal injury. We believe that this previously undescribed toe entrapment is made possible because of the robin’s sideways perching behaviour on upright vegetation. This highlights that relationships between leg banding and injury may be species-specific and that the impacts of banding should be identified and quantified in all species in which it is used. This will allow more accurate assessments of the risks and benefits associated with this common marking technique.
Acknowledgments
We thank Becky Lewis, Andy Kent, Angelique Hoffman, Askia Wittern, Tim Day, Petrina Duncan, Troy Makan, Sandra Jack, Ian Fraser, Jason Taylor and Su Sinclair for assistance with field observations, and Barry Baker for helpful comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. We are also grateful to Barbara Walter, Ray Walter, Thomas Helmig-Christensen, Rachel Curtis, Rosalie Stamp, Ian Price, Ian McLeod, the New Zealand Department of Conservation and the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Inc. for logistical support. We are grateful for financial assistance from the Supporters of Tiritiri Matangi Inc.
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