In the overview below you will find the recommended ring size for each water bird species..
The following points should be taken into account when ringing your wildfowl:
- A closed ring is fitted to the growing bird at the point when it fits snugly over the foot so it does not fall off. For some wildfowl species, this is a very short window. Consult the birdguide for proper ring sizes.
- It is important that the ring cannot slip up over the ankle (hock) joint.
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
American wigeon | Anas americana | 9 |
|
Auckland Teal | Anas aucklandica | 9 |
|
Australasian shoveler | Anas rhynchotis | 9 |
|
Australian grey teal | Anas gracilis | 9 |
|
Australian Wood Duck | Chenonetta jubata | 12 |
|
Bahama Pintail | Anas bahamensis | 11 |
|
Baikal teal | Anas formosa | 8 |
|
Bronze-winged duck | Speculanas specularis | 12 |
|
Campbell Teal | Anas nesiotis | 9 |
|
Cape Shoveler | Anas smithii | 9 |
|
Cape Teal | Anas capensis | 9 |
|
Chestnut Teal | Anas castanea | 9 |
|
Chiloé wigeon | Mareca sibilatrix | 10 |
|
Cinnamon Teal | Anas cyanoptera | 8 |
|
Eaton's pintail | Anas eatoni eatoni | 9 |
|
Eurasian Wigeon | Mareca penelope | 9 |
|
Falcated duck | Mareca falcata | 10 |
|
Gadwall | Mareca strepera | 10 |
|
Green-winged Teal | Anas (crecca) carolinensis | 6.5 |
|
Hartlaub's Duck | Pteronetta hartlaubi | 11 |
|
Hawaiian duck | Anas wyvilliana | 9 |
|
Hottentot Teal | Anas hottentota | 6,5 |
|
Laysan duck | Anas laysanensis | 9 |
|
Madagascar Teal | Anas bernieri | 8 |
|
Marbled Teal | Marmaronetta angustirostris | 8 |
|
Mellers duck | Anas melleri | 10 |
|
Mexican duck | Anas platyrchynchos diazi | 11 |
|
Mottled duck | Anas fulvigula | 11 |
|
New Zealand brown teal | Anas chlorotis | 9 |
|
Pacific Black Duck | Anas superciliosa | 11 |
|
Patagonian crested duck | Anas specularioide | 12 |
|
Philippine Duck | Anas luzonica | 11 |
|
Puna teal | Anas puna | 9 |
|
Red shoveler | Anas platalea | 9 |
|
Ringed teal | Callonetta leucophrys | 8 |
|
Salvadori's Teal | Salvadorina waigiuensis | 9 |
|
Silver Teal | Anas versicolor | 8 |
|
Spot-billed duck | Anas poecilorhyncha | 12 |
|
Yellow-billed Duck | Anas undulata | 12 |
|
Yellow-billed pintail | Anas georgica | 9 |
|
Yellow-billed teal | Anas flavirostris | 9 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ferruginous Pochard | Aythya nyroca | 9 |
|
Baer's Pochard | Aythya baeri | 10 |
|
Barrow's goldeneye | Bucephala islandica | 11 |
|
Common Pochard | Aythya ferina | 10 |
|
Hardhead duck | Aythya australis | 10 |
|
Lesser Scaup | Aythya affinis | 9 |
|
Madagascar Pochard | Aythya innotata | 11 |
|
Musk Duck | Biziura lobata | 13 |
|
Ring-necked duck | Aythya collaris | 9 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
African Black Duck | Anas sparsa | 11 |
|
Andaman Teal | Anas albogularis | 10 |
|
Blue Duck | Hymenolaimus malacorhynchos | - |
|
Comb duck | Sarkidiornis sylvicola | 14♂︎/12♀︎ |
|
Freckled Duck | Stictonetta naevosa | 9 |
|
Knob-billed duck | Sarkidiornis melanotis | 14♂︎/12♀︎ |
|
Northern shoveler | Anas clypeata | 9 |
|
Red-crested pochard | Netta rufina | 11 |
|
Southern pochard | Netta erythrophthalma brunnea | 11 |
|
White-backed duck | Thalassornis leuconotus leuconotus | 10 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Steamerduck (Magellanic) | Tachyeres pteneres | 20 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bar-headed goose | Anser indicus | 16 |
|
Barnacle Goose | Branta leucopsis | 14 |
|
Black Brent Goose (pacific) | Branta bernicla nigricans | 12 |
|
Blue-winged Goose | Cyanochen cyanopterus | 14 |
|
Dark-bellied Brent Goose (Russian) | Branta bernicla | 12 |
|
Emperor Goose | Anser canagica | 16 |
|
Kelp Goose | Chloephaga hybrida | 18 |
|
Lesser White-fronted Goose | Anser erythropus | 14 |
|
Nene Hawaiian goose | Branta sandvicensis | 16 |
|
Orinoco Goose | Neochen jubata | 14 |
|
Red-breasted Goose | Branta ruficollis | 12 |
|
Ross's Goose | Anser rossii | 14 |
|
Swan Goose | Anser cygnoides | 20 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Muscovy duck | Cairina moschata | 14 |
|
White-winged wood duck | Cairina scutulata | 16♂︎/14♀︎ |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Black scoter (Americana) | Melanitta nigra americana | 12 |
|
Red-breasted merganser | Mergus serrator | 11 |
|
Scaly-sided merganser | Mergus squamatus | 11 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Trumpeter Swan | Cygnus buccinator | 27 |
|
Whooper Swan | Cygnus cygnus | 27 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Magpie Goose | Anseranas semipalmata | 18 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Common goldeneye | Bucephala clangula | 10 |
|
Long-tailed duck | Clangula hyemalis | 9 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
African Pygmy Goose | Nettapus auritus | 6 |
|
Brazilian teal | Amazonetta brasiliensis | 8 |
|
Cotton pygmy goose | Nettapus coromandelianus | 6,5 |
|
Green Pygmy Goose | Nettapus pulchellus | 7 |
|
Wood duck | Aix sponsa | 9 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Brazilian Merganser | Mergus octosetaceus | |
|
Common merganser | Mergus merganser | 13 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Eider, Common | Somateria mollissima | 13 |
|
Eider, King | Somateria spectabilis | 12 |
|
Scoter, Surf | Melanitta perspicillata | 11 |
|
Scoter, Velvet (Eurasian) | Melanitta fusca | 12 |
|
Scoter, white-winged | Melanitta fusca deglandi | 13 |
|
Smew | Mergellus albellus | 9 |
|
Spectacled eider | Somateria fischeri | 12 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Ashy-headed Goose | Chloephaga poliocephala | 14 |
|
Cape Barren Goose | Cereopsis novaehollandiae | 20 |
|
Ruddy-headed Goose | Chloephaga rubridiceps | 14 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Australian Shelduck | Tadorna tadornoides | 14 |
|
Common Shelduck | Tadorna tadorna | 12 |
|
Paradise Shelduck | Tadorna variegata | 13 |
|
Radjah Shelduck | Tadorna radjah | 12 |
|
Ruddy Shelduck | Tadorna ferruginea | 13 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Garganey | Anas querquedula | 7 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Tufted duck | Aythya fuligula | 9 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Hooded merganser | Lophodytes cucullatus | 9 |
|
Pink-Eared Duck | Malacorhynchus membranaceus | 8 |
|
Torrent Duck | Merganetta armata | 12 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bufflehead | Bucephala albeola | 8 |
|
Harlequin Duck | Histrionicus histrionicus | 9 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Maccoa duck | Oxyura maccoa | 9 |
|
White-Headed duck | Oxyura leucocephala | 10 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Steller's eider | Polysticta stelleri | 10 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
South African Shelduck | Tadorna cana | 13 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Flying Steamerduck | Tachyeres patachonicus | 18 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Blue-billed duck | Oxyura australis | 9 |
|
Lake duck | Oxyura vittata | 9 |
|
Ruddy duck | Oxyura jamaicensis jamaicensis | 9 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Bewick's swan | Cygnus columbianus bewickii | 24 |
|
Black Swan | Cygnus atratus | 20 |
|
Black-necked Swan | Cygnus melanocorypha | 20 |
|
Coscoroba Swan | Coscoroba coscoroba | 20 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Black bellied Whistling duck | Dendrocygna autumnalis | 12 |
|
Fulvous Whistling duck | Dendrocygna bicolor | 12 |
|
Lesser Whistling duck | Dendrocygna javanica | 10 |
|
Plumed Whistling duck | Dendrocygna eytoni | 11 |
|
Spotted Whistling duck | Dendrocygna guttata | 11 |
|
Wandering whistling duck | Dendrocygna arcuata australis | 12 |
|
West Indian Whistling duck | Dendrocygna arborea | 13 |
|
White-faced Whistling duck | Dendrocygna viduata | 11 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Black stork | Ciconia nigra | 18 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Black Crowned Crane | Balearica pavonina | 18 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Demoiselle Crane | Anthropoides virgo | 16 |
|
Eurasian crane | Grus grus | 18 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Shoebill stork | Balaeniceps rex |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
American White Ibis | Eudocimus albus | 12 |
|
Blackfaced ibis | Theristicus melanopis | 14 |
|
Northern Bald Ibis | Geronticus eremita | 14 |
|
Scarlet Ibis | Eudocimus ruber | 12 |
|
White-faced Ibis | Plegadis chihi | 10 |
| Common name | Scientific name | Recommended size | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
African Spoonbill | Platalea alba | 14 |
|
Eurasian Spoonbill | Platalea leucorodia | 18 |
|
Roseate spoonbill | Platalea ajaja | 14 |
|
Royal Spoonbill | Platalea regia | 0 |