The Windhover The Windhover "The Windhover" is a sonnet by Gerard Manley Hopkins (1844–1889). It was written on May 30, 1877, but not published until 1918, when it was included as part of the collection "Poems of Gerard Manley Hopkins". Hopkins dedicated the poem "to Christ our Lord". "Windhover" is another name for the common kestrel ("Falco tinnunculus"). The name refers to the bird's ability to hover in midair while hunting prey. In the poem, the narrator admires the bird as it hovers in the air, suggesting that it controls the wind as a man may control a horse. The bird then
Bird ringing Treaty of 1918. "Bird ringing" is the term used in the UK and in some other parts of Europe; while the term "bird banding" is more often used in the USA and Australia. Organised ringing efforts are called ringing or banding schemes, and the organisations that run them are ringing or banding authorities. (Birds are "ringed" rather than "rung") Those who ring or band birds are known as ringers or banders, and they are typically active at ringing or banding stations. Birds may be captured by being taken as young birds at the nest, or as adults, captured in fine