Bird ringing in Obihiro, Hokkaido 2. Parus palustris and P. montanus

Abstract

From 1979 to 1990, 229 birds of Parus palustris (PAP) and 4 birds of P. montanus (PAM) were captured and ringed with a numbered metal rings as part of the Japanese banding scheme and partly a combination of up to two celluloid colored rings in various areas of Hokkaido, mainly in Obihiro. The results obtained from ringing scheme indicated that in low altitudes of Tokachi district PAP was distributed throughout years and PAM occurs rarely in autumns and winters. Of 49 PAP which were ringed in juvenile period, 62% disappeared within 1 month and 4% remained at 13th month after ringing in the study area, the longest-lived bird being 15 months. Of 159 adult PAP ringed, 18% were observed for 2 to 12 months, 15% for 13 to 24 months, 4% for 25 to 36 months, 4% for 37 to 48 months and 2% for 49 months and more. The longest-lived adult was 73 months. More juveniles disappeared from the study area than adults. The mean longevity was 2.1 months for juvenile and 8.6 months for adult. There was no recapture in PAM.
Several PAP pairs of same male and female were observed for 1 to 3 years. In PAP wing length ranged from 61 to 63mm with an average of 62.2 for females. The corresponding values for males were 64, 67 and 65.5mm respectively. The body weight ranged from 10 to 13g for both sexes in PAP. The mean body weight for males increased significantly from 11.5% in breeding season (April to August) to 12.1g in non-breeding season (September to March), but that for females did not vary between both seasons, being 11.0 and 11.1g respectively. The mean body weight for males was lager than that for females both in breeding non-breeding seasons.