Taking part
More than 500 sites have been selected randomly for WBBS coverage. These lie in all parts of the UK. Especially in upland regions, many are still awaiting an observer. For details of vacant sites in your region, please contact your BTO Regional Representative or email wbbs [at] bto [dot] org.
To enquire generally about taking part, please email wbbs [at] bto [dot] org.
Observers need to be confident about recording all bird species on the stretch by both sight and sound. Just two counting visits are needed between April and June, one before and one after mid May. Habitat is also recorded each year but can often be noted on a return walk, after a counting visit. Expect to record many more birds in 500 m of rich, waterside habitat than in a 200-m BBS section!
The following forms can be downloaded :
General information sheet -- updated annually (pdf, 578kb)
WBBS instructions (8 A4 pages) (pdf, 2.1Mb)
Habitat recording form (pdf, 406kb)
Mammal summary sheet (pdf, 380kb)
Field recording sheet (4 A4 pages) (pdf, 334kb)
Count summary sheet (4 A4 pages) (pdf, 358kb)
They are also available from your BTO Regional Representative or from BTO HQ in Thetford, along with (if required) a letter of introduction to landowners.
After completing a survey, please return completed paper forms to your BTO Regional Representative or by post to BTO HQ in Thetford. Please note that:
- A completed habitat form is essential every year, because it forms a key to the stretches and sections that were surveyed for birds in that year.
- WBBS stretches are referred to in the database using a nominal one-kilometre grid reference. This must not be changed, even if the survey does not run through that square.
- WBBS is entirely a paper-based survey and has no equivalent to BBS-Online: an online input system has long been planned for WBBS but its development is awaiting funding.
