Birdwatch News Archive

Will this Pied Flycatcher chick still be around in 16 years time? One female has certainly lived that long. Photo:Miika Silfverberg (commons.wikimedia.org).

Pied Flycatcher comes of age

Posted on: 17 Aug 2012

A female Pied Flycatcher ringed as a chick at Lake Vyrnwy RSPB in 1996 has been found still alive and well in a nest box near Clocaenog, Denbighshire.

The bird was found by British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) ringers over just over 20 miles from the original ringing site in woods near Clocaenog in May this year, 16 years since it was ringed on 22 June 1996. According to the BTO the previous oldest known individual was nine years and seven days old.

Peter Bache has been ringing birds at Lake Vyrnwy for over 25 years on behalf of the BTO. He said: “I ringed this bird back in 1996 and can’t believe she is still going strong and still breeding, an amazing accomplishment for such a small bird.”

As most birders are aware, Pied Flycatcher is a small, flycatching chat, slightly smaller than House Sparrow, and known for its site fidelity when it comes to breeding. Females are brown in colour, males being black-and-white in spring, and migrate to Wales to breed after spending the winter in West Africa. The survival of this bird not only demonstrates its tenacity and strength, but further underlines its homing instinct for breeding sites, though females can change allegiance to different partners from neighbouring males.