GREAT CORMORANT
Colour-ringing Projects in Europe and Middle East

Arranged by RING COLOUR AND STYLE

BLACK
BLUE (dark)
BLUE (light)
GREEN
RED
ORANGE
VIOLET and MAUVE-PINK
WHITE
YELLOW
Combination of more colour rings with inscription
Combination of more colour rings with and without inscription
Combination of more colour rings without inscription

BLACK rings, style 3 or 2
Black rings with a three or two character inscription with a vertical band

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Note	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Black	White		3	L, R	157	2000		T. Bregnballe	Denmark
Black	White	or	3	L, R	702	1986-91		T. Bregnballe	Denmark
Black	White		3	L, R	989	1983-88		T. Bregnballe	Denmark
Black	White		2 cb	L, R	?	1988-91		T. Menke	Germany
Black	White	or or	2	?	267	2001-	Project of the SE Norwegian cormorant ringing group "Åge Sten Fredriksen". intersting about 288 individuals. Used codes were: 00 -> 90, 09 -> 99, A1 -> Z1, A9 -> Z9, 1A -> 1B, 9A -> 9B. Codes that can be read from down-up and up-down, making confusion, have been excluded (e.g. 09, 06, 90, 99)	"Å. S.Fredriksen"	Norway

Dark BLUE rings, style 3, 2 or 1h
Dark blue rings with a one to three character inscription
Two character inscription may have a vertical band or a central orizontal line between letters

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Note	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Blue	White		3	L, R	996	1977-79 1986		T. Bregnballe	Denmark
Blue	White		3	L, R	3716	1983-88		T. Bregnballe	Denmark
Blue	White		3	L (1998) R ('97, '99)	84	1996-99	Combinations start always with letter A; 2nd and 3rd letters may be: A, C, E, H, J, K, L, N, P, R, S, T, U, V, Y,	P. Musil R. Martincová	Czech Republic
Blue	White		2	R	30	2000	Combinations start with letter A or B; 2nd letter may be: A, B, C, D, E, H, I, J, K, O, P, S, T, U, X, Z.	P. Musil R. Martincová	Czech Republic
Blue	White		2			2001-	Combinations from NA to ZZ will be reserved for use in England colonies.	S. Newson	UK
Blue	White	or or	2 ob	L, R	?	1995-99 2000-02		S. Newson	UK
Blue	White		2 cb	L, R	?	1996-		S. Newson	UK	see an example
Blue	White	or	2 lb or 2 ub	L, R	?	1987		M. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK
Blue	White		1 h	L, R	ca. 100	1992		(M. Carrier) (S. Newson)	UK
Blue	White		1 h	L, R	ca. 100	1993		(M. Carrier) (S. Newson)	UK
Blue	White		1 h	L, R	ca. 100	1994		(M. Carrier) (S. Newson)	UK

Light BLUE rings, style 3
Light blue rings with a three character inscription (code unknown)

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Blue (light)	Black		3	L	?	1986	R.A. Macdonald (S. Newson)	UK
Blue (light)	Black		3	L	?	1987	R.A. Macdonald (S. Newson)	UK

GREEN rings, style 3 or 2
Green (light or dark) rings with a three or two character inscription (with or witout a vertical band)
Three character inscription rings are sometimes combined with a small plain colour ring

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Note	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Green	Black		3	R ?	ca. 200 yr ca.150 yr	1989-91 1992-94		D.J.Andrews (S. Newson)	UK
Green	Black		3	?	14	1981		S.J. Sutcliffe (S. Newson)	UK
Green	Black		3 + Ps	L	18	1982		S.J. Sutcliffe (S. Newson)	UK
LIME (pale green)	Black		3	left	ca. 600	2006 2008	code 000 - 600 example (see also the Dutch example)	M. Antoniazza report sightings to the Swiss Ornithological Institute, CH-6204 Sempach ring@vogelwarte.ch	Switzerland
Green	White		3	?	?	1996- ?	First letter is always A; mid-letter may be F, H or J; last letter changes from A to Z	M.Gogu Bogdan	Romania
Green	White		3	?	50 / year	2006-	Project on Puffin Island, Wales. Combinations used: first CAA ... CZZ	S. Newson	UK
Green	White	or or or	3	L	96 101 96 112 61 28 85 82 17+47 23 17 261	1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004	Combinations used in Poland begin with: FA, FB, FC, FF, FH, FJ (in 1993); FL, FN, FP, FR, FS, FT (in 1994); FU, FV, FX, FZ, HA, HB (in 1995); HC, HF, HH, HJ, HL, HN, HP (in 1996); HR, HS, HT (in 1997 ); HU, HV, HT (in 1998); NA, NB, NC, NE, NF (in 1999); NN, NP, NL, NJ, NH (in 2000); NR, NS, NT, NZ (in 2001); RAA-RBH, RBN, REC (in 2002); RB- and RC- (in 2003); RBx ... RVx (in 2004)	J. Jezierski S. Bzoma	Poland
Green	White	or	3	?	?	1996- ?	Mid and last letters range between A and Z	M.Gogu Bogdan	Romania
Green	White		3	R	17	2005	The project is coordinated by Aves (belgian society for bird study and protection), in collaboration with the Centre de Recherche Biologique d'Harchies	Jean-Yves Paquet	Belgium
Green	White	or	3	?	50 / year	2001-	10 yrs project at Denny Island. Combinations used: first PAA ... PZZ then SAA ... SZZ	S. Newson	UK
Green	White	... ...	3	R		2007	Combinations used are: from V P A - V P Z to V V A - V V Z and from W A A to W E N	S. van Rijn	Estonia
Green	White	... ...	3	R		2007	Combinations used are: from V W A - V W Z to V Z A - V Z Z and W J A - W J Z	Finnish Ringing Centre	Finland
Green	White	...	3	R		2007	Combinations used are: from W E P - W E Z to W H A - W H Z	S. van Rijn A. Gaginskaya	Russia
Green	White		3	L, R	990	1983-1986		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Green	White		3	-	1,980	1991 1996-2004	A few birds (ringed in 1996) have a small GREEN or BLUE plastic ring above the metal ring on the other leg	T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Green	White		3	L, R	1,971	1986-1991, 1996, 2003	A few birds (ringed in 1996) have a small GREEN or BLUE plastic ring above the metal ring on the other leg	T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Green	White		3	L, R	1,343	1997-1999		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Green	White		3	L, R	1,242	1999-2000		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Green	White		3	L, R	1,245	2000-2002		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Green	White		3	L, (R only few)	1,595	2001-2006		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Green	White	or	2	L	ca. 200	1987		S.J. Sutcliffe R.M. Sellers (S. Newson)	UK
Green	White	or	2	?	ca. 250	1997-99		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
LIME (pale green)	Black		2			2007-	photo by: Jean-François Le Bihan http://jeanfrancois.lebihan.free.fr	S. van Rijn	Netherlands
Green	White		2 cb	R	ca. 450	1993-2001		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
Green	White	or	2 cb	?	ca. 250	1999-2001		S. van Rijn	Netherlands

RED rings, style 3 or 2
Red rings with a three or two character inscription (with or without a vertical band)

Red

White

3

L

113

2006

1AA - 3AT in 2006

T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup

Denmark

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Note	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Red	White		3	L, R	990	1982-84		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Red	White		3	L, R	1,387	1984-1988		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Red	White		3	L, R	1,110	1986-1988 2000		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Red	White		3	L	1,712	2003-2004 (2005 few)	Codes used in Denmark were: AA1-PH7 in 2003 PH8-VJ0 in 2004 (2005)	T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Red	White		3	L	113	2006 2008	1AA - 3AT in 2006 0-9 KA - 0-9 KV (140) 0-9 LA - 0-9 LV (140) 0-9 NA - 0-9 NV (128) 0-9 PA - 0-9 PV (140)	T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
Red	White		3	L, R	?	1989-91		T. Menke	Germany
Red	White		3	?	?	?		T. Menke	Germany
Red	White		3	?	100	2003	Codes with letters CL, CN, CP, CR, CS, CT, CU, CV, EA and EC used in Norway. Note that other letter were used in Denmark	Å.S. Fredriksen	Norway
Red	White		3	?	279	2004	Combinations ranging from A1A-C0V were used in 2004 and will continue from E1A in 2005	Å.S. Fredriksen	Norway
Red	White		2	L	ca. 500	1996-97		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
Red	White	or	2	L	ca. 300	1998-99		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
Red	White	or	2	L	ca. 200	1985		S.J. Sutcliffe R.M. Sellers (S. Newson)	UK
Red	White		2 cb	L	ca. 400	1999-2000		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
Red	White	or	2 cb	L	ca. 300	2001-2002		S. van Rijn	Netherlands	see a sample
Red	White		2 cb	L, R	?	1988-91		T. Menke	Germany
Red	White		1 b	?	?	?		T. Menke	Germany

ORANGE rings, style 4, 3, 2 or 1h
Orange rings with a one, two, three or four character inscription
Some two character inscription have a central horizontal line between letters

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Orange	Black		4	L, R	547 >100	Po Delta 1997-2007 Lombardia 2005-2007	S. Volponi A. Boto	Italy
Orange	Black		3	?	?	2001-	S. Newson	UK
Orange	White		2	R L	?	1992 1993	"	UK
Orange	Black		2	L	?	1994 1996-1997	"	UK
Orange	White		2	L	some	1997	"	UK
Orange	Black		2 ob	L	?	1998	"	UK
Orange	Black		2 cb	L	?	?	"	UK
Orange	White		1 h	R	?	1990	"	UK
Orange	White		1 h	R	?	1991	"	UK

VIOLET or MAUVE-PINK style 3, or 2
Rings with a two or three character inscription

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Mauve-pink	Black		3	L	1500	1999	(V. Siochin) N. Baccetti	(Ukraine) Italy
Violet	White	or	2	R	ca. 200	1988	S.J. Sutcliffe R.M. Sellers (S. Newson)	UK

WHITE rings, style 4, 3, 2 or 1h
White rings with one to four character inscription
(two carachter inscription may have a vertical band)

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Note	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
White	Black		4	?	50+	1983-91 2000		P.T. Rusanen	Finland
White	Black		3	?	12	1978		D. Cabot (S. Newson)	UK
White	Black		3	L, R	990	1981-83		T. Bregnballe	Denmark
White	Black	or or	3	L, R	4503	1988-97		T. Bregnballe	Denmark
White	Black		3	L, R	1,721	1997-2002		T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
White	Black		3	L, R	118	2002-2003	Combinations ranging from 1AA-0AT have been used so far	T. Bregnballe Jacob Sterup	Denmark
White	Black		3	L, R	196	1983-85		P. Mayewski	Poland
White	Black		2	L	200	1983-84		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
White	Black		2	L	?	?		R.M. Sellers D. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK
White	Black		2	L	200 +	1986-?		R.M. Sellers D. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK
White	Black		2 cb	L	200	1987-88		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
White	Black	or or or	2 or 2 cb	L	ca. 500	1991-95		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
White	Black	or	2 lb or 2 ub	L, R	?	1987		M. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK
White	Black		1 h	L	?	1992		R. Sellers M. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK
White	Black		1 h	L	?	1993		R. Sellers M. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK
White	Black		1 h	L	?	19??		R. Sellers M. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK
White	Green		3	?	?	1998		A.W. Lauder (S. Newson)	UK
White	Red		2 dcb	?	?	1988-91		T. Menke	Germany

YELLOW rings, style 3, or 2
Yellow rings with a two or three character inscription
(rings with two character inscription may have a vertical band)

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Note	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Yellow	Black		4		2007 to 08/03/2008: 64	2007-2008 (a)	the project is aimed to study movement of ADULT birds The first letter is always S, followed by a combinationof the of the following letters: A, B, C, D, F, H, J, K, L, M, N, P, S, T, V, X, Z	J. Aymerich (Group d'Anellament de Celldetenes - Osona)	Spain
Yellow	Black		3	?	?	?	The inscription numbers are indicating the year of birth and the breeding colony the birds stem from but not the different individuals themselves.	A. Siefke	Germany
Yellow	Black		3	L, R	500	1985-91	The inscription numbers are indicating the year of birth and the breeding colony the birds stem from but not the different individuals themselves.	U. Koeppen	Germany
Yellow	Black		3	L	1000	1985		R.A. Macdonald (S. Newson)	UK
Yellow	Black	or or or	2 or 2 cb	R	ca. 500	1991-95		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
Yellow	Black		2	R	200	1985-86		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
Yellow	Black		2	L	?	1986		M. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK
Yellow	Black		2	D	ca. 50	2003		A. Barati	Iran
Yellow	Black		2 cb	R	200	1989-91		S. van Rijn	Netherlands
Yellow	Black	or	2 lb or 2 ub	L	?	1987		M. Carrier (S. Newson)	UK

COMBINATIONS OF MORE THAN A COLOUR RING
- WITH INSCRIPTION -

Style 1 / 1 -
Two rings of different colour each bearing a single character (vertical) inscription

Ring colour	Inscription colour	Style	Type	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
Yellow + Red	(black) + (white)		1/1	L	ca. 200	1989	S.J. Sutcliffe R.M. Sellers (S. Newson)	UK
Blue + White	(white) + (black)		1/1	L	ca. 200	1990	"	UK
White + Red	Red + (white)		1/1	R	ca. 200	1991	"	UK
White + Red	Red + (white)		1/1	L	ca. 200	1992	"	UK
Green + White	White + Red		1/1	L	ca. 200	1993	"	UK
Green + White	White + Red		1/1	R	ca. 200	1994	"	UK
White +White	Black + Black		1/1	R	66	2005	Dagys Mindaugas	Lithuania
Green + White	White + White		1/1	R	29	2005	Dagys Mindaugas	Lithuania
Red + White	White + Black		1/1	R	29	2005	Dagys Mindaugas	Lithuania

* Lithuanian projects:
code used for the below ring (A): A, B, C
code used for the upper ring (B): A, B, C, E, F, H, I, L, J, K, L, M, N, O, P, R, S, T, U, V, W, X, Y

COMBINATION OF
TWO OR MORE COLOUR RINGS
WITH AND WITHOUT INSCRIPTION

LEFT leg			RIGHT leg
Ring colours	Ring style		Ring colours	Ring style		No. ringed	Years	Project leader	Ringing scheme
		M + Ps + Ps			Ps + 2cb		2002 2003	G. Debout	France
		M + Ps + Ps			Ps + 2cb		2002 2003	G. Debout	France

Colour-ringing is carried out in two P. c. carbo norman colonies. Ring combinations include: on the left leg a metal ring of the Museum of Paris plus a single colour-ring; on the right leg a colour-ring plus an inscripted white or blue ring (depending on the colony). Inscription include a letter (C or M depending on the colony), a central vertical band, and a number (2, 3 and so on depending on the year of ringing).

COMBINATIONS OF MORE THAN A COLOUR RING
- WITHOUT INSCRIPTION -

Style Ps or Pl -
Small or large plain single ring without inscription sometimes combined with the metal ring

Ring colour	Style	Leg	No. ringed	Years	Project leaders	Ringing scheme
	Ps	L	50	1980	L. Linden	Sweden
	Ps	L	195	1981-85	L. Linden	Sweden
?	Ps	?	?	1986-91	L. Linden	Sweden
?	Ps	?	14	1978	S.J. Sutcliffe "	UK
	Pl	L	23	1979	S.J. Sutcliffe (S. Newson)	UK
	Pl	R	2	1980	S.J. Sutcliffe (S. Newson)	UK
	Ps + M	R	?	1984	R. A. Macdonald (S. Newson)	UK
	Ps + M	R	?	1984	R. A. Macdonald (S. Newson)	UK

Used colours	Style			Leg	No. ringed	Years	Project leaders	Ringing scheme	Example
			Ps/Ps + M/Ps	L, R	897	1989-93 1996-00	L. Marion	France
			Ps/Ps/Ps + M/Ps	L, R	874	1992-95 1997-00	L. Marion	France