Press Releases - November/December 2007
Item 6

No. 2007/12/84
December 2007

How do you count 200 million birds?

The same way you would eat an elephant, a little at a time. This is just what the British Trust for Ornithology plan to do over the next four years and you can help over the Christmas period.

The project is going to cost over £1,000,000, involve more than 50,000 volunteers and count and map as many as 200,000,000 birds, and what’s more anyone can get involved. There are lots of ways in which people can help to complete this gargantuan task. If we each do a little bit the task will be that much easier to achieve.

One of the ways in which people can help is the BTO Christmas Bird Count. The count works on many different levels. All the birds counted help to fill in the bigger picture. Any monies raised through sponsorship help to reach that £1,000,000 mark, and more importantly, it is a great way to walk off the excess of Christmas, one which all the family and guests can take part in. Return your count form by 31 January and you might even win a pair of Zeiss binoculars worth over £1,000.

Hundreds of intrepid BTO members and Garden BirdWatchers will be out and about over the festive season braving the weather and helping to map Britain’s birds. However, it is a case of the more the merrier and this year we would like to open the Christmas Bird Count to the Nation. It would be fantastic if we can encourage more people to join us. Many will be visiting well-known birding spots; we hope that some will be noting birds in their local area and some may not make it out of the house, choosing to watch their garden birds from their favourite armchair. Each approach is equally valuable as they all contribute to the information we have about the Country’s birds.

I would like to offer you a challenge. The BTO will be putting out a small sponsored team of staff to count birds, but they will be limited to the BTO grounds and reserve in Thetford. Will you be able to find more species? Just choose a day and site/s - see if you can defeat the experts.

For more information and a Christmas bird count form contact Kate Aldridge on 01842 750050 or email

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Notes for Editors

1. The Christmas Bird Count is an annual event run by the BTO. This year all monies raised will contribute to the funding of the 2007-11 Atlas project. The records of birds seen will also contribute towards the Atlas Roving Records survey. For more information visit, http://www.bto.org/appeals/xmascount.htm All sponsorship forms returned by 31 January 2008 will be entered into a free prize draw to win a pair of Zeiss Victory 8x32FL binoculars, worth over £1,000
2. Bird Atlas 2007-11 will cover the whole of Britain and Ireland during the winter and breeding season. The British Trust for Ornithology will be working in partnership with BirdWatch Ireland and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club. BTO is seeking funding for the work across the whole of the UK and BirdWatch Ireland is taking responsibility for Ireland. Fieldwork started on 1 November 2007 and will continue through to 2011.
3. Birdwatchers of all abilities can get involved in Bird Atlas 2007-11 in one way or another. There are three levels of participation:
   a. Taking a walk or going birdwatching any time, anywhere? Your records can help to fill in the squares on the Atlas maps. Seen a hovering Kestrel, the blue flash of a Kingfisher or a Barn Owl at dusk?
   b. Know your birds? We are also looking for birdwatchers who will visit 2km by 2km tetrads to identify and count all of the birds they see.
   c. A third of the UK’s birds are found in gardens. By becoming a member of the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch you will be able to register your birds on the national map.
4. For information on what is involved see http://www.bto.org/birdatlas/taking_part/index.htm
5. The Bird Atlas 2007-11 project will cost just over one million pounds of which £600,000 has already been raised
6. For more information about Bird Atlas 2007-11, visit http://www.bto.org/birdatlas/about.htm
7. Images are freely available for use in association with this press release. Please contact to request an electronic version. Please quote reference number 2007/12/84
8. The BTO has an ISDN line available for radio interviews.

For further information please contact:

Kate Aldridge (Fundraising Officer) on 01842 750050 or email: (during office hours)

Paul Stancliffe (Press Officer) on 01842 750050 or e-mail: (during office hours)
or mobile 07845 900559 (anytime)

Graham Appleton (Head of Fundraising & Publicity) on 01842 750050 or e-mail: (during office hours)