Press Releases - March/April 2007
Item 12

No. 2007/04/48
April 2007

Garden birds scoop Lottery cash.

Thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £37,900, garden birds, together with those who watch them, are to benefit from a new initiative. Launched today by the British Trust for Ornithology, the Ambassadors Scheme sets out to encourage those with an interest in garden birds, helping them to become ‘Citizen Scientists’ and to engage with others to determine the changing fortunes of Britain’s garden birds.

Gardens are an important habitat for birds and they are one of the best places for people, from a wide range of backgrounds, to engage with wildlife. The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) already monitors the changing fortunes of birds within gardens through its network of 16,000 BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatchers. The Ambassadors Scheme will enable the BTO to engage with a wider audience than it does currently, introducing more people to the concept of using simple recording techniques to collect valuable scientific data (a process known as ‘Citizen Science’).

Professor Jeremy Greenwood, Director of the BTO said, “This is grass roots scientific research that anyone with access to a garden can participate in, to help us to monitor what is happening to birds in gardens.”

The ambassadors will promote the survey at a local level, through talks to a range of audiences, such as gardening groups, local wildlife trusts, bird clubs and the WI. They will also open the idea of ‘Citizen Science’ to new audiences and to those that have restricted access to the wider countryside, by highlighting the importance of counting and recording birds in gardens. The presentations will aim to encourage an active interest in wild birds by people that have never done this type of thing before. By taking part in the survey, and watching the birds in their gardens, individuals can help to make a real difference to our knowledge of these birds without even leaving the house.

Paul Stancliffe, of the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch team said, “We are delighted to receive this grant. It will directly benefit garden birds and those that watch them, by enabling us to reach people that might not consider themselves able to take part in this kind of survey. The more people that take part across the country, the better idea we will have of how our garden birds are doing.”

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Notes for Editors

1. The Heritage Lottery Fund grant of £37,900 will be used to recruit, train and provide the equipment that will enable the Ambassadors to give talks and presentations across the country. By 2010 there will be 15 fully trained BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Ambassadors in 15 different regions of the UK.
2. The Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) enables communities to celebrate, look after and learn more about our diverse heritage. From our great museums and historic buildings to local parks and beauty spots or recording and celebrating traditions, customs and history, HLF grants open up our nation’s heritage for everyone to enjoy.
3. The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch is the only nationwide survey of garden birds to run weekly throughout the year, providing important information on how birds use gardens, and how this use changes over time. Currently, some 16,000 people take part in the project. The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch is funded by participants’ contributions and supported by CJ WildBird Foods Ltd and is the largest year round survey of garden birds anywhere in the world. For more information see www.bto.org/gbw
4. CJ WildBird Foods is Europe’s leading supplier of bird food and bird feeding products. CJ WildBird Foods has been responsible for a number of significant developments within the bird food and feeding industry, including the introduction of black sunflower seeds to the UK as a major new bird food and the development of specialist seed mixes for use in tubular feeders. The company has also been supporting research into the changing fortunes of garden bird populations, most notably through the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch.
5. Images of garden birds are freely available for use in association with this press release. Please contact to request an electronic version. Please quote reference number 2007/04/48
6. The BTO has an ISDN line available for radio interviews.

For further information please contact:

Paul Stancliffe on 01842 750050 or e-mail: (during office hours)
Mike Toms on 01842 750050 or e-mail: (during office hours)