Hungary
Systematic bird ringing in Hungary started in 1908 by the Hungarian Royal Ornithological Centre (later: Ornithological Institute) (by Ottó Herman and Jakab Schenk).
The building of the institute was destroyed during World War 2 in 1945 including the complete collection and bird ringing documentation. Only the data published in the Aquila journal remained from the time before 1951: the data of 2,193 bird individuals, which are integrated to the EURING databank (EURING scheme codes: HGK, HGM, HGX).
From 1951 all ringing data is available and are completely digitalised (EURING scheme code: HGB). Hungarian ringing activity has been coordinated by BirdLife Hungary since 1976. Currently the number of registered ringers is 465, of whom approximately 270 are actively tagging birds each year (active ringers) recently. In the last decade, 220.000-260,000 birds have been ringed in Hungary every year. Presently 7.6 million ringing and recovery data of 6.5 million birds are managed in the Hungarian bird ringing database.
An online bird ringing application has been used since 2014 (Tringa: T ring application, sponsored by T systems). Currently the app has 564 users.
A regular update to the EURING database is sent every 2 years. It contains all Hungarian dead/injured recovery data (HGB) and all the recapture and observation data with a displacement of more than 10 km.
The Hungarian Bird Migration Atlas has been published by Kossuth Publishing Co. in 2009, and contains the results of 100 years of bird ringing in Hungary.
The up-to-date visualisation (figures, maps and summaries by bird species, currently only in Hungarian language) of the databanks of the Hungarian Monitoring Centre and Ringing Centre are available in the knowledge base on the MME website, on the sub-page for birds of Hungary: www.mme.hu/magyarorszagmadarai
So far, two EURING conferences have been organized in Hungary. The first was in Visegrád after the regime change in 1990 and the second in 2007 in the Fertő-Hanság National Park, in Sarród-Fertőújlak. Before the demolition of the Iron Curtain, representatives of Eastern European countries were rarely able to attend these meetings, therefore bird-ringing and migratory research conferences were held for socialist countries, too. It was held in Hungary twice: in 1979 and 1985.
Presently 12 ringing stations are operated in Hungary, where approximately half of the annual ringing data in the country are produced:
In 2004 Hungary joined the CES project and has recently operated 30-33 CES points per year.
Hungary is located in the Carpathian Basin, which is of outstanding importance for many migratory bird species. It is characterized by a wide variety of habitat types, providing nesting, migratory and wintering grounds for many bird species. So far, 420 bird species have been registered in Hungary, of which 211 are regular breeders. Migratory individuals of other bird species avoid the area due to the high mountain ranges of the Alps and the Carpathians, giving little recovery data.
In Hungary, the nearly 120-year-old bird ringing activity has brought outstanding results in the region. In the EURING atlas application, the number of records in Hungary is relatively high for the following bird species, so they are of outstanding importance at the European level as well: Pygmy Cormorant, Black-crowned Night Heron, Squacco Heron, Great Egret, Purple Heron, Black Stork, Glossy Ibis, Eurasian Spoonbill, Short-toed Snake Eagle, Long-legged Buzzard, Asian Imperial Eagle, Red-footed Falcon, Saker Falcon, Mediterranean Gull, European Roller, Syrian Woodpecker, Sand Martin, Moustached Warbler, Lesser Grey Shrike and in case of archive data: Rufous-tailed Rock Thrush, Rosy Starling.
Hungarian rings were previously used in several countries (Mongolia, Serbia, Ukraine, Romania), and in recent years Hungarian rings have been used in Albania, Moldova.
In Hungary, more than a thousand bird ringers have taken part in the ringing work since 1908. In addition, thousands of finders and observers provided data to the Hungarian bird ringing databank.
Today, there are 12 bird-ringing stations and countless ringing projects in Hungary, some of these are listed here.
Bird Ringing Stations
Sumony, 1981 (BirdLife Hungary, Foundation for the Natural Values of Baranya)
Ócsa, 1983 (Ócsa Bird Ringing Station Association)
Bódva Valley, Szalonna, 1986 (BirdLife Hungary, Aggtelek National Park)
Fenékpuszta, 1986 (BirdLife Hungary)
Lake Fehér, Szeged, 1988 (BirdLife Hungary)
Ferencmajor, Naszály 1991 (Hundred Valleys Nature Conservation Organization, Duna-Ipoly National Park)
Lake Fertő, Sarród-Mekszikópuszta, 1991 (Fertő-Hanság National Park)
Lake Kolon, Izsák, 1998 (Kiskunság Bird Protection Association)
Tömörd, 1998 (BirdLife Hungary, István Chernel Ornithological and Nature Conservation Association)
Farmos, 2004 (Duna-Ipoly National Park)
Dávod, 2012 (Gébics Nature Conservation Association, Duna-Drava National Park)
Hortobágy, 2016 (Hortobágy National Park)
Assorted ringing projects:
Integrated population monitoring of Sand Martin (Akcio Riparia) in Hungary
Annual survey of breeding habitat, colonies and breeding success along the river Tisza in Hungary with intense ringing and application of videoendoscope, geolocators and radiotelemetry to study survival, dispersal and spatial-temporal features of breeding, migration and wintering of Sand Martin since 1986.
http://partifecske.mme.hu/
Red-footed Falcon Project, BirdLife Hungary
Complex Program in cooperation with Hungary, Slovakia, Serbia, and Romania for the conservation and research of the Red-footed Falcon, which aims to increase the number of nesting pairs, monitoring efforts, studies on population sizes and trends, habitat use, reproduction, diseases and parasites, migration and wintering.
https://falcoproject.eu/
European Roller Project, BirdLife Hungary
Crossborder Program in cooperation with Hungary and Romania for the conservation and research of the Eureopean Roller. The programme aims to increase the number of breeding pairs, coordinate and perform monitoring activities, and conduct studies on population trends, habitat use, migration and wintering behaviour.
https://www.rollerproject.eu/
Hungarian Imperial Eagle Program, BirdLife Hungary
Annual survey of the total national breeding population is done in close cooperation with National Park Directorates since 1974. The breeding success in determined in the frame of standardized nest surveys in June, combined with intensive color-ringing and GPS-tracking of the chicks. The ringing-recovery and GPS-tracking datasets are used to map dispersal movements and estimate survival among the different age groups.
https://www.imperialeagle.eu/
Hungarian Saker Falcon Program, MME BirdLife Hungary
Annual survey of the total national breeding population is done in close cooperation with National Park Directorates since 1974. The breeding success in determined in the frame of standardized nest surveys in May, combined with ringing and GPS-tracking of the chicks. http://sakerlife.mme.hu/
Hungarian Spoonbill Project
The project started in 2003. Colour rings and GPS loggers are used to study the dispersal, migration, and survival of Spoonbills.
https://www.researchgate.net/project/Ecology-dispersal-and-migration-of-Eurasian-Spoonbill-in-Hungary
Moustached wabler migration and wintering site research in the mediterranean region
The main objective of this conservation-oriented research, which started in 2002, is to explore the importance of reed wetlands for the Mostached Warbler in the migratory and wintering area. Over the past 21 years, targeted surveys have been organised 48 times at 21 sites. The aim of the programme is to protect reedbed habitats by mapping the "stepping stones" for migratory birds.
Pilis-ELTE long-term nest box project
Monitoring of breeding attempts, ringing/recapture of approx. 3000 adults and nestlings per year, morphological and behavioural data collection since 1982.
http://behavecol.elte.hu/web/
CES sites (2021): Balinka, Császártöltés, Csorna, Dávod, Dömös, Érsekcsanád, Farmos, Hajdúszoboszló, Hedrehely, Hortobágy, Jászfelsőszentgyörgy, Kaposfő, Keszthely, Kóka, Komárom, Nagydorog, Naszály, Ócsa, Patak, Pilismarót, Sarród, Sárszentmihály, Seregélyes, Siófok, Szalonna, Szeged, Szentpéterfölde, Tata, Tihany, Tiszalúc, Tömörd, Völcsej.
Other projects:
Gull Ringing in Rétszilas colony since, 1951
Great egret color ringing project, since 2008, BirdLife Hungary
Dinnyés, Fertő Bird Ringing Camp, since 1989
Bird ringing Kevermes, since 2016
Tiszalúc ringing camp, since 2014
Contact the scheme: ringers@mme.hu