Press Releases - March/April 2008
Item 3

No. 2008/03/08
March 2008

Garden birds in Devon get their own Ambassadors.

Thanks to a Heritage Lottery Fund grant, garden birds in Devon are to get a helping hand as the county gets its first ever garden bird Ambassadors. The British Trust for Ornithology celebrated the appointment of two BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Ambassadors at a conference attended by over 100 garden bird enthusiasts, in Exeter this weekend.

Martin Overy became the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Ambassador for South Devon and David Gayton took up the post in North Devon. Martin Overy commented, “I am delighted to take up this position. This survey is the only survey that monitors our garden birds throughout the year. By taking part ordinary people are adding to what we know about how, why and when birds use our gardens. In the long run this can only benefit the birds. The more we learn now about Devon’s garden birds, the stronger position we will be in to protect them in the future.”

David Gayton has been a participant in the survey since it began in 1995 and understands more than most the importance of monitoring the fortunes of the birds that share our gardens, commented, “More people than ever are feeding the birds in their gardens, and the only way of finding out what is happening in those gardens is for the owners to tell us. It was people doing just this that first alerted us to the decline of the House Sparrow.”

The Scheme is to appoint a further 14 Ambassadors across the country over the next two years. These will be a point of contact for anyone that is interested in garden birds. The Ambassadors will also be available to give presentations about garden birds and the survey to a wide range of audiences.

For more information on how to contact the Devon Ambassador, or to get involved in the survey and make your garden count. Contact the GBW Team on 01842 750050, or email; or write to BTO, GBW, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU.

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Notes for Editors

1. The aim of the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Ambassador scheme is to create a network of volunteer Garden BirdWatch Ambassadors across the country, to help increase the impact of the Trust’s work, and to act as focal points for the development of the BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch survey at a local level. The scheme will see 15 ambassadors appointed in different regions of the UK over the next three years.

The regions covered will be:

Year 1: Suffolk, Hampshire, Devon, Northumberland and Manchester.

Year 2: Scottish Central Belt, Nottinghamshire, South Wales, York and West Midlands.

Year 3: Northern Ireland, Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, Shropshire and Hertfordshire.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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

5. 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.

6. Images of garden birds and of the Devon Ambassador are freely available for use in association with this press release. Please contact to request an electronic version. Please quote reference number 2008/03/06

7. 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)
or mobile 07845 900559 (anytime)

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