Gardens provide important habitat for many bird species, supporting some individuals that are present year-round and others that only visit when food is in short supply in other habitats. An appreciation of how and when birds use gardens can make an important contribution to our understanding of the pressures faced by different species as they respond to changes within the wider countryside.

Given that gardens are typically viewed as being an artificial habitat, it is perhaps unsurprising that their bird populations have been less well studied than bird populations found in other habitats, like woodland or farmland. However, BTO research has highlighted the importance of gardens for many bird species and more and more work is now looking at gardens and the diversity of species they can support. The following links will take you to other pages that deal with some of research issues concerned with garden birds. More pages will be added to this section over time, as increasing amounts of research are published.