Fróðskaparrit - 01.01.2004, Page 267

FRÁBOÐANIR UM SÚLUR (MORJJS BASSANUS) MERKTAR í FØROYUM
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The aim of ihis paper is to shed some
light on the migration pattern of the Faroese
Gannet, based on recovery data, and to
compare the results with studies from some
other northern European countries.
Material and methods
Faroese Gannets have been ringed with alu-
minium rings until 1996. The problem with
rings is that the data on them wears off after
some time and especially on the aluminium
rings (Perdeck and Wassenaar, 1981; Aebi-
scher, 1983; Galbraith and Furness, 1983;
Jensen, 1997; Summers and Etheridge,
1998). Since 1998 the Zoological Museum
in Copenhagen has delivered steel rings for
Gannets (Jensen and Olsen, 1999).
According to Toms and Clark (1998),
11 Gannets, ringed in Britain, were recov-
ered in the Faroe Islands. Records for 1997,
from the Zoological Museum in Copenha-
gen, showed that 12 Gannets ringed abroad,
1 from Ireland and 11 from Scotland, have
been recovered in the Faroe Islands, thus
supporting Toms and Clarks statement
about the 11 ringed in Britain. So far the
Faroese Museum of Natural History has
only got 2 recoveries from 1998-2002, of
Gannets ringed abroad, making the total
number recovered in the Faroe Islands, 14
individuals.
All data used in this paper are from re-
coveries reported to the Zoological Mu-
seum in Copenhagen and frorn a paper by
Hudson (1963).
The total number of Gannets ringed
in the Faroe Islands up to 2001 was 909
(Jensen, 2002) with 30 recoveries, 21 of
which are lrom abroad (Fig. 2 and 3). The
age of the Gannets was determined as: age
when ringed + time frorn ringing to recov-
ery (Fig. 3).
The statistical tests were done with the
program SPSS I 1.0 for Windows.
Results
Most recoveries were made relatively
shortly al'ter ringing. Approximately 70%
Fig. 1. Recoveríes
against timefrom
ringing to recovery.