Britain’s BirdTrack birdwatchers share vital non-bird observations with national iRecord

14 Mar 2022 | No. 2022-11

BirdTrack, organised by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) as a birdwatcher’s online notebook, has just submitted over a quarter of a million observations of other wildlife to iRecord, a national wildlife data collection website operated by the Biological Records Centre( BRC), providing information that is vital in helping to understanding the health of all of our wildlife, not just birds.

Britain’s birdwatchers are well known for watching other wildlife too, and whilst birds are their primary aim they very often diversify into butterfly, dragonfly and mammal watching, alongside recording some plants too. Over recent years, developments to the BirdTrack recording software has enabled them to record their other wildlife whilst submitting their bird observations. This has resulted in BirdTrack sharing these records, over 250,000 of them, with iRecord, making them available to others for research and conservation.

Scott Mayson, BirdTrack Organiser at the BTO, said, “It never ceases to amaze me how engaged in wildlife recording the British public are. As this initiative develops we will be sharing over 100,000 butterfly observations per year alone and have received 150 butterfly records already this year, and it is only March. I would encourage any birdwatchers already using BirdTrack to submit their non-bird observations too, the more we get the more powerful the database becomes as a conservation tool”

Martin Harvey, UKCEH Biological Records Centre, said “BRC is pleased to have been able to work with BTO to establish this link between our two online recording systems, building on the strengths of each to enable more wildlife records to be checked and shared”

BirdTrack is free to download and take part in – for more information, please visit BirdTrack.net
The development for this project was supported by Defra and Natural England through the Natural Capital Ecosystem Assessment programme. The Biological Records Centre (BRC) is supported by the Joint Nature Conservation Committee (JNCC) and UKCEH (through the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) as part of the UK-SCAPE programme delivering National Capability).

Contact Details
Paul Stancliffe (BTO Media Manager)
Mobile: 07585 440910
Email: press [at] bto.org (subject: News%20release%20enquiry)

Mike Toms (Head of Communications)
Mobile 07850 500791
Email: press [at] bto.org (subject: News%20release%20enquiry)

Images are available for use alongside this News Release. These can be downloaded from this link for which you will need to enter the password Nymphalid202211 alternatively, please contact press [at] bto.org quoting reference 2022-11

Notes for editors

BirdTrack is an exciting project, through a partnership between the BTO, the RSPB, Birdwatch Ireland, the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and the Welsh Ornithological Society, that looks at migration movements and distributions of birds throughout Britain and Ireland. BirdTrack provides facilities for observers to store and manage their own personal records as well as using these to support species conservation at local, regional, national and international scales.
 
BTO is the UK's leading bird research charity. A growing membership and up to 60,000 volunteer birdwatchers contribute to BTO's surveys, collecting information that underpins conservation action in the UK. BTO maintains a staff of 100 at its offices in Thetford, Stirling, Bangor (Wales) and Belfast (Northern Ireland), who analyse and publicise the results of surveys and projects. BTO's work is funded by BTO supporters, government, trusts, industry and conservation organisations. www.bto.org

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