Recording your sightings

We need your lists!

The success of BirdTrack relies on your birdwatching lists. We need to gather a large number of lists at all times of the year from throughout Britain and Ireland. We prefer complete lists of birds you have seen because the proportion of lists with a given species provides a good measure of frequency of occurrence. Incomplete lists and casual records can also be entered so as to provide a comprehensive record of what you have seen.

It is very important for us to know whether the list that you have recorded is a complete list of everything seen or heard during your visit. If it was please check the box near the top of the species list form. Please note that it doesn't matter if you missed species that were present - we only need to know that you have recorded al the species that you observed.

You can either simply record the presence of a species using a tick box, or give a count. Some birdwatchers will like to be able to provide a count whilst others will be happy just to record presence - the choice is yours!

When you first enter records for a site you will be presented with a list of about 200 species. These are the species we consider you most likely to come across in your day-to-day birdwatching. The remainder of the species on the British and Irish Lists will be accessible from a drop-down menu at the bottom of the page and you can add these onto your list. Simply enter counts or tick the boxes for the species you have seen. Next time you enter records for that site you will just see the list of species that you saw on the first visit. You can add in more species by using the drop-down menu. The idea is to build up a list unique to each site, so you will just see the species that you have recorded at each site over time.

The lists also contain a selection of the most regularly reported escapes such as Black Swan and Bar-headed Goose. We are keen for you to record escaped species on your lists. If you see an escape that is not on the list please let us know by emailing the BirdTrack Organiser and we will add it in.

Count accuracy Providing counts of birds are of more value to us and to local bird recorders. It may often be difficult to make an accurate count and in these circumstances it is important to records that the count was approximate. If you have been unable to count the birds accurately then please use an accuracy code of circa (c) or plus (+). Please only use ONE measure of count accuracy. Within BirdTrack we suggest using circa to mean 'best estimate' eg c300 Golden Plover and plus to mean a minimum estimate eg 250+ Golden Plover. The c and + codes should be entered in the count box alongside the numbers as shown here.

Casual Records

You can record your sightings that you make on a casual basis, such as the first Swallow of the year even if you didn't make a complete list. There is a separate Casual Records Form that you can use. The Casual Records Form allows you to enter up to six records with the standard information such as site, date, species and count.

Notes

The BirdTrack system includes the facility to enter notes and breeding status against each individual species record. Notes can be used to record numbers of different age and sex categories, information about unusual plumage or moult or anything else that you think is of interest. The notes facility is provided mainly for the use of individual observers but any notes that you do record will also be passed on to local bird recorders (where you have given permission for your records to be forwarded). The breeding status will also be of great use for Atlasing work in the future.

If you are lucky enough to see a species that is not included on any of the lists please email details to the BirdTrack Organiser.

BirdTrack is organised by the BTO for the BTO, RSPB and BWI
Terms and Conditions | Privacy Statement | Contact Us
Registered Charity Number 216652
© British Trust for Ornithology