Birds are living longer and flying further

Birds are breaking records by living longer and travelling further, according to a report from leading ornithologists.

The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) said a worldwide study had added years to the known age of several species after rings were fitted to their legs to help trace their movements.

A barnacle goose at the Caerlaverock reserve on the Solway Firth, near Dumfries, has been found with a ring fitted there almost 27 years ago, which is nearly two and a half years more than the previous record.

An even bigger age jump was made by a tufted duck shot in Russia's Salavatskiy district 22 years after being ringed when just a few months old in Lincolnshire, 2,200 miles away. The previous record was 17 years, nine months.

Smaller woodland birds are shorter-lived but their longevity is also extending. A starling was found dead in Novgorod, Russia, more than 17 years after being ringed as a youngster in Suffolk - 16 months more than the previous record.

Jacquie Clark, who heads the BTO's ringing scheme, said: "Producing the ringing report is always exciting - but to break so many records in one year is tremendous. Unlike humans, birds don't spend a long time going through middle and old age. After maturing, they remain in good shape for most of the rest of their lives.

"Once they fall below par physically they tend not to last long. They might lose that essential bit of speed necessary to escape predators, face increasing difficulty completing long migrations or struggle to survive through winters."

Volunteers caught and ringed more birds in 2004 than in any other year since tagging started in Britain in 1909.

BTO volunteers put rings on 881,920 adults and nestlings in 2004, beating the previous record of 859,252, which was set in 1995. Blue tits topped the adult and nestling ringing league, with 65,369 tagged.