Beringungszentrale Hiddensee

The history of the Hiddensee Bird Ringing Scheme goes back to the year 1936, when the Ornithological Station Hiddensee (“Vogelwarte Hiddensee”) was formally established on the island Hiddensee as a section of the Biological Research Station of the University of Greifswald. However, bird ringing started before this. For example, a comprehensive cormorant ringing programme was launched in 1930, which provided more than 170 recoveries – the only ringing data for the species in the Baltic Sea area from a time when the species was almost on the verge of extinction. Throughout the Second World War Rossitten rings were used. After the Second World War the Ornithological Station Hiddensee became the Ringing Centre of East Germany, later the German Democratic Republic (GDR). Radolfzell rings were used west of the river Elbe, Helgoland rings east of this natural border. As a consequence of the political division of Germany, the GDR issued its own Hiddensee rings from 1964. Between 1964 and 2020 about 6.19 million birds were marked with Hiddensee rings. Up to the end of 2020 these birds have produced some 855,000 recoveries.

The Hiddensee Bird Ringing Scheme was one of the first European schemes to introduce electronic data management systems. It certainly was an advantage that the ringing scheme was part of the University of Greifswald at that time, and hence had access to the University’s computers. Digital data processing was introduced in 1977 and from that date all ringing and recovery data are available in the digital database. For the period 1964–1976, only the recoveries and the corresponding ringing data have been digitised so far; about 1.2 million ringing records are only available on paper.

In the context of the German unification process scientific institutions, including universities, were evaluated and re-organized. As a consequence, the Hiddensee Bird Ringing Scheme was separated from the University of Greifswald. In 1994, based on a formal agreement between the new Federal States in East Germany, it became a department of the nature conservation authority of the Federal State Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania (today: Agency for Environment, Nature Conservation and Geology, Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania). The scheme’s office was moved from Hiddensee to Greifswald and finally, at the end of 2017, to Güstrow.

The ringing activities of the Hiddensee ringers are not restricted to East Germany. There is, inter alia, a long-term cooperation project between the Martin-Luther-University, Halle and the University of Mongolia. Starting in 1997, ca. 6,000 birds have been ringed with Hiddensee rings in Mongolia. In 1978 the Friedrich-Schiller-University, Jena launched a ringing programme in Antarctica, with 13,700 birds having been ringed until now.

Currently scientific bird ringing is undertaken by about 290 active volunteer ringers. To become a ringer, an interested person needs experience of at least two years as an assistant ringer, working under the supervision of a licensed ringer. With this practical experience and theoretical background, she/he may participate in a five-day training course organised by the ringing scheme. At the end of the course, the candidate has to pass a final examination that includes both a theoretical and a practical assessment. 

Our ringing activities are based on scientific programmes and arbitrary ringing is avoided. Currently there are 18 central programmes of the Hiddensee Bird Ringing Scheme, described in detail in the “Work Programme 2021-2025”. Ringers may participate in these central programmes, but they may also develop their own programmes and submit them to the ringing scheme for approval.