Focus on winter thrushes

 

Your BirdTrack complete lists are already providing valuable information on the arrival and departure times of Redwing and Fieldfare, and Bird Atlas 2007-11 will give a good picture of the distribution of wintering thrushes throughout Britain and Ireland during the past four winters.

However, we know far less about within-winter movements and the pattern of habitat use by wintering thrushes. Britain and Ireland support high numbers of Redwing and Fieldfare in winter, and we need to know more about their requirements to help inform future conservation.

This autumn and winter we are encouraging you to use BirdTrack to tell us a bit more about the Redwings and Fieldfares you encounter. When submitting species lists of the birds you've recorded, please try to add a count, activity and note about the habitat for any Redwings or Fieldfares on your list. For over-flying birds (arriving migrants or birds moving about within the country, rather than birds making local movements to or from feeding areas) the direction of flight can be recorded too. 

A measure of effort will also be very valuable so please include a start and end time for any species lists you submit.

Not only will your detailed records give us information about what is happening this autumn and winter, but they will also help to inform the design of a specific winter thrush survey the BTO is organising for winter 2012/13.

Adding extra information about Redwings and Fieldfares

A recent BirdTrack development is the facility to record optional details about the birds you see. This reduces the amount you have to type in the comments boxes and also makes the information easier to analyse. In the example below, a count of 28 Redwings (along with 2 Blackbirds, 2 Chiffchaffs and 3 Goldcrests) has been added as part of a species list:

Click the  icon next to the record to reveal seven optional details. Select the one you want by clicking the relevant button; the button will go white and a box will appear for you to record the details. In the example below, Direction of flight was added to show that the 28 Redwings were flying over in a southwesterly direction:

 

Habitat can be typed into the free text box that appears when you click the 'Habitat' button. The most useful information will be details about the specific element of the habitat the birds are using. For example, if a flock of Fieldfares are seen on farmland, please try to say which part of the habitat they were using: a grassy field, a ploughed field, a hedgerow, a solitary tree etc. Any information you can provide will help us to design the habitat recording protocol for the 2012/13 winter thrush survey. Optionally, adding a pinpoint sighting will help to make your habitat notes easier to analyse. 

Activity can be recorded by chosing from the drop-down menu to note what the bird(s) were doing. In the example below, a group of 12 Fieldfares comprised 3 feeding on hawthorn berries and 9 flying between feeding areas or to/from a roosting site. 

When you have finished you can choose to hide the optional details you have added by clicking the icon; a green tick will appear in its place to indicate that you have added extra information for that record.

Optional details can also be added for casual records by clicking the icon at the bottom right side of the casual records form. You can use these buttons to add as much extra information as you wish for any of the species you see.