Press Releases - July/Aug 2005 - Item 5

News Release 2005/08/23
- issued by BTO

17 August 2005

Happy Birthday BirdTrack

Over 6000 people have been tracking the country’s birds for the last twelve months since BirdTrack was launched on 17 August 2004 at the British Birdwatching Fair. So what have we found and how can you help?

Last August BirdTrack was launched to look more closely at migration movements of birds throughout Britain and Ireland at all times of the year, and also to study the distributions of scarce birds. BirdTrack has now reached its 1st birthday and continues to grow in terms of its coverage and its membership but we still need more people at more sites!

In the last year, 1.2 million sightings have been logged for nearly 90,000 site visits for 485 species. The data generated in terms of information about migrants and their movements continues to grow and is proving to be a valuable resource as we try to understand more about these species. People across the country have submitted their sightings via the BirdTrack website leading to a detailed picture of bird distributions across the year. So what have we found?

• Participants have helped monitor the increasing occurrence of warblers wintering in the Britain and Ireland.
• Sightings of Marsh harriers have been used to estimate the total British population.
• 2005 saw the late arrival of many migrants due to bad weather, and numbers of Chiffchaffs and Whitethroats were down on previous years.

So what’s been happening more recently? Well, over the last few days many BirdTrack recorders have contacted us to say that their Swifts have now departed. Small numbers will linger here well into September, but the vast majority are now heading south to their wintering grounds in Africa and we won’t see them again until next spring.

Swallows are now forming sizable roosts at dusk and you may see them gathering over reedbeds in the evenings. In a recent development, these birds are increasingly using maize fields to roost in and this is a good example of some birds’ potential of being able to utilise new habitats when they arise.

Another aim of BirdTrack is to monitor scarcer species and in recent days we have received reports of 69 Little Egrets in Medway, which is an excellent count, and reports of Spotted Crakes are beginning to come in with one being seen recently in Cheshire.

BirdTrack will continue to monitor the movements and occurrence of all Britain and Ireland’s birds and this is thanks to the wide network of people who submit their sightings on a regular basis. However, we still need more people, so why not give BirdTrack a birthday gift by registering at www.birdtrack.net and submitting your sightings and become part of this fascinating and valuable ornithological project.

Notes for Editors
1. BirdTrack is an online bird recording scheme www.birdtrack.net organised by BTO on behalf of BTO, RSPB and BirdWatch Ireland.
2. To register for BirdTrack visit the BirdTrack website (www.birdtrack.net and click on the 'Register for BirdTrack' link). Registering is free.
3. Birdwatchers are encouraged to enter their birdwatching lists online to support species and site conservation at local, national and international scales.
4. We need to gather a large number of lists at all times of the year. Complete lists (all species seen and heard) are preferred but incomplete lists and casual records will also help build our understanding of populations.
5. Results produced by BirdTrack will help us to map the migration and movements of birds and monitor of scarce birds in Britain and Ireland. Maps are available from for use in publications.
6. BirdTrack follows on from the successful Migration Watch project that looked at spring migration in 2002-2004. BirdTrack will run all-year and gather information on spring and autumn migration. We know very little about the timing of arrival and departure of winter visitors and this is just one area where BirdTrack will provide useful information.
7. Most of our summer visitors winter in Africa, ranging from the tip of South Africa for Swallow to West Africa for the likes of Sedge Warbler and Whitethroat. Information from bird ringing suggests that Willow Warbler winters in the Gulf of Guinea; around the Ivory Coast and Ghana. In contrast, Lesser Whitethroat is the only warbler to winter in East Africa with records from Egypt, Sudan, Chad and Ethiopia.

Images are available from

For further information please contact:

Dawn Balmer, Graham Appleton or Martin Fowlie
BTO, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU.
Tel: 01842 750050 Mobile 0797 4668503
E-mail:

Grahame Madge
Media Officer, Conservation PR
RSPB, The Lodge, Sandy, Beds SG19 2DL
Telephone: +44 (0) 1767 681577 Mobile and out of hours contact: 07702 196902
Pager: 07654 344078

For information about BirdTrack in the Republic of Ireland contact:
Olivia Crowe
BirdWatch Ireland, Rockingham House, Newcastle, Co. Wicklow, Ireland
Tel: 353 - 1 - 2819878

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