Heligoland trap
Encyclopedia
A Heligoland trap is a large, building-sized, funnel-shaped, rigid structure of wire mesh or netting used to trap bird
s, so that they can be banded
or otherwise studied by ornithologists
.
The name is taken from the site of the first such trap, the Heligoland Bird Observatory
on the island of Heligoland
, Germany
, where it was developed by Hugo Weigold
who established the observatory and initiated the banding program there. The trap has a series of linked funnels that guides birds or other animals in but makes it hard for them to leave. Funnel traps of smaller size can also be used to trap squirrels and insects.
) at Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia
, on the Curonian Spit
.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s, so that they can be banded
Bird ringing
Bird ringing or bird banding is a technique used in the study of wild birds, by attaching a small, individually numbered, metal or plastic tag to their legs or wings, so that various aspects of the bird's life can be studied by the ability to re-find the same individual later...
or otherwise studied by ornithologists
Ornithology
Ornithology is a branch of zoology that concerns the study of birds. Several aspects of ornithology differ from related disciplines, due partly to the high visibility and the aesthetic appeal of birds...
.
The name is taken from the site of the first such trap, the Heligoland Bird Observatory
Heligoland Bird Observatory
The Heligoland Bird Observatory , one of the world's first ornithological observatories, is operated by the Ornithologische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Helgoland e.V., a non-profit organization which was founded in 1991 to support research on the fauna of Heligoland, a small German archipelago, comprising...
on the island of Heligoland
Heligoland
Heligoland is a small German archipelago in the North Sea.Formerly Danish and British possessions, the islands are located in the Heligoland Bight in the south-eastern corner of the North Sea...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
, where it was developed by Hugo Weigold
Hugo Weigold
Max Hugo Weigold was a German zoologist and a pioneer bird bander who established the Heligoland Bird Observatory, one of the world’s first.Weigold was born in Dresden. He studied natural sciences and geography in Jena and Leipzig...
who established the observatory and initiated the banding program there. The trap has a series of linked funnels that guides birds or other animals in but makes it hard for them to leave. Funnel traps of smaller size can also be used to trap squirrels and insects.
Rybachy trap
The Rybachy trap is a variation or expansion of the Heligoland trap in that it is a large, passive trap consisting of linked funnels terminating in a small chamber from which the birds are extracted for banding and measuring before release. It differs in being larger - it may have an entrance some 30 m wide by 15 m high - and by having a non-rigid body made of netting rather than wire mesh. It was developed in 1957 by Janis Jakšisat under the leadership of Lev Belopolsky at the Rybachy Biological Station (formerly the Rossitten Bird ObservatoryRossitten Bird Observatory
The Rossitten Bird Observatory was the world's first ornithological observatory. It was sited at Rossitten, East Prussia , on the Curonian Spit on the south-eastern coast of the Baltic Sea...
) at Rybachy, Kaliningrad Oblast in Russia
Russia
Russia or , officially known as both Russia and the Russian Federation , is a country in northern Eurasia. It is a federal semi-presidential republic, comprising 83 federal subjects...
, on the Curonian Spit
Curonian Spit
The Curonian Spit is a 98 km long, thin, curved sand-dune spit that separates the Curonian Lagoon from the Baltic Sea coast. Its southern portion lies within Kaliningrad Oblast, Russia and its northern within southwestern Lithuania...
.