One of the problems bird breeders have to face every year is the loss of fledglings. They have to ring fledglings within three days from hatching for, otherwise, the ring cannot be applied.

I have noticed that, after ringing a fledgling, the parents will try to remove the ring and, more often than not, they end up out of the nest and die. Other birds cannot stand having their nest touched and if this happens they will abandon it immediately.

I believe that something has to be done to save these birds. They can be ringed by an authorised person when the birds are big enough to fend for themselves.

We have many organisations, such as BLM, FKNK and many others that can do this job while keeping a record of the birds bred on our island every year and the type of birds kept in captivity.

I hope the minister responsible for the protection of cruelty to animals will take my comment into consideration and move to save these birds.