4.2 Welfare, ethical, and legislative issues
The intervention caused by trapping and processing may have very minor
consequences, such as the loss of a few minutes feeding, or major ones, such as
exposure to a predator. Furthermore, the same procedure might have different
consequences under different conditions; losing a few minutes feeding in sum-
mer when food is abundant and days are long might be quite different from mid-
winter when both food and time to find it might be in short supply. Indeed the
balance of costs to a bird from being trapped might change through the day
(Gosler 2001).
Disregard for the welfare of birds may prejudice their lives and their contribution
to the population (with consequences for conservation status or population stud-
ies); it is also likely to reduce the quality and reliability of data, and it may be a legal
necessity to take heed of such issues. The degree to which these considerations affect
a particular study will vary across taxa, seasons, and countries, but the best advice
must be first to weigh up the necessity of the research itself against any cost to the
birds, then the necessity of the methods employed (in case a non-interventionist
approach might yield equally valid results), and finally, having accepted their neces-
sity, to aim for the highest possible standards within the constraints of the research
needs themselves. Current thinking on the use of animals in science is to consider
what is known as the three “R”s. These are “Replacement,” for example, use
a non-sentient rather than sentient species (not applicable here) or an abundant
species rather than a rare one, “Refinement” of technique to minimize stress, etc.
and “Reduction” of numbers to the minimum necessary for the work to produce
valid results (for further information on the three “R”s, see Salem and Rowan 2001
and Hawkins et al. 2001; and for a modern discussion of animal stress, see Moberg
and Mench 2000).
Outside the laboratory, the legislation most relevant to field ornithologists
regulates the capture and marking (ringing or banding) of birds. Legislative con-
straints naturally vary by countries, and it is essential that researchers obtain
whatever permits are necessary to operate legitimately within the country con-
cerned. Where specific legislation exists (e.g. most European states, USA,
Canada, and Australia) researchers must obtain a Government permit issued
under the appropriate legislation. Also, where a national ringing scheme or
banding program is in place, you should use rings or bands supplied by that
scheme. This is not just a courtesy and an established convention; it also prevents
confusion and unnecessary administration for the ringing schemes concerned,
and for you. The administration of permits is also often undertaken on behalf of
the governments by the ornithological institutions that run the ringing schemes.
86 |Birds in the hand