Bird ringing in Slovenia in 2015 and the occurrence of Parrot Crossbills Loxia pytyopsittacus

Abstract In 2015, 170 bird species were recorded during bird ringing activities in Slovenia. We ringed 73,371 birds belonging to 162 species, there were 132 foreign recoveries of birds ringed in Slovenia, 120 recoveries of birds ringed abroad and found in Slovenia, as well as 1964 local recoveries. The most frequently ringed species were Blackcap Sylvia atricapilla and Great Tit Parus major. In ringed nestlings, Great Tits and Tree Sparrows Passer montanus predominated. In 2015, the first preliminary ringing of Scops Owls Otus scops during migration took place, resulting in the highest number of Scops Owls ringed so far. Concerning recoveries of birds ringed in Slovenia and later recorded abroad and birds ringed abroad and later recorded in Slovenia, the commonest were Mute Swans Cygnus olor and Black-headed Gulls Chroicocephalus ridibundus. The longest-distance recovery concerned a Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniculus found in Sweden (2,144 km away). Among the interesting finds were also the first finds of ringed Pygmy Cormorants Microcarbo pygmeus so far from breeding sites in Hungary. Among rare species, Yellow-browed Warbler Phylloscopus inornatus, Spanish Sparrow Passer hispaniolensis and a pair of Parrot Crossbills Loxia pytyopsittacus were caught and ringed, the latter for the very first time in Slovenia after more than 100 years. An overview of records of the Parrot Crossbill is given herein, as well as analysis of irruptive years of the Red Crossbills Loxia curvirostra between 1980 and 2015, when the probability of boreal Crossbill species occurrence is the highest. According to the ringers’ data, the irruptive years of Red Crossbills in Slovenia were 1984, 1985, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2011 and 2012. The article points to the probability that Parrot Crossbills have been overlooked in the past, since larger specimens of Crossbills were ringed mostly in irruptive years, but no specific bill measurements important for distinguishing between Parrot and Red Crossbill had been taken.