The Migration Atlas Project

• Background
• The Migration Atlas book
• Atlas taster

The BTO Migration Atlas, published in December 2002, is a comprehensive summary of the movements of bird species that visit Britain and Ireland.

Background

The British and Irish Ringing Scheme has been running since 1909 and there are now more than half a million reports of ringed birds (‘recoveries’) in the database at BTO. The Migration Atlas brings together all the information from the BTO ring recoveries database and combines it with other sources of information on movements to produce a comprehensive reference book. The analyses for the project are funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the ringers themselves, other BTO members and a number of charitable trusts and commercial sponsors.

Knowledge of the seasonal movements of birds is essential for their effective conservation. The unique information from ringing reveals these movements.

Ringing will provide information on the movements of birds to be used in conservation programmes into the future. The Migration Atlas project is a ‘taking stock’ exercise, to ensure that gaps in current knowledge are recognised and the means of filling these gaps are identified.

The Migration Atlas book

The analyses of ring recovery information for almost 200 species is included in the book, which features:

• Introductory chapters about the Ringing Scheme, migration ecology and study methods.
• A critical examination of potential biases in the ringing-recovery information caused by ringing and finding circumstances.
• Variation in movement patterns across species, age classes, sexes, regional populations and through time.
• Texts for individual species, written by experts on their movements.
• Overview chapters summarising the value of information from ringing for bird conservation and making recommendations for improving knowledge of movements in the future.

Atlas taster

The Swallow is the classical summer migrant. Hundreds of British- and Irish-ringed Swallows have been found in Africa and in Europe whilst on their travels.

For relatively common species such as the Spotted Flycatcher we still know very little about the distribution in Africa.

Migration is often complex. Many Merlins which breed in Iceland spend the winter in Britain and Ireland, whilst birds which breed here move further south in the autumn.

Britain and Ireland are at the focus of major international migrations. Turnstone from as far apart as Canada and Finland spend time on our coasts. Some move further to winter in Africa.

The Atlas is not just about migration. Individuals of species such as Pied Flycatcher change their breeding locations between years.

Some birds move to moult. Many Canada Geese from England move north to undergo their annual moult and Shelduck, congregating in Danish and German waters, are susceptible to natural and man-made disasters.

The Migration Atlas brings together vast amounts of data, as can be seen in these two pages for Herring Gull.

Staff contact: Graham Appleton
Email:

Test your knowledge with our Migration Quiz