Press releases
Mixed bag for Scottish seedeaters
May 2020
The latest Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) report, covering population trends for the UK’s bird species, shows that sparrows are doing better in Scotland than the rest of the UK...
The latest report on UK’s breeding birds shows mixed results
May 2020
The latest Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) report, covering population trends for the UK’s bird species, is released today...
British Cuckoo completes 22,000 mile odyssey in record time
April 2020
A Cuckoo called Carlton II has just arrived back in England having spent the last ten months travelling to and from the Congo rainforest, becoming the first of the BTO’s satellite tracked cuckoos to return to this country in 2020...
National Garden Bird Survey reaches 25 years
April 2020
In 1995 the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) launched a weekly garden bird survey: Garden BirdWatch (GBW)...
Volunteers' data vital in wetland conservation
April 2020
Data collected by volunteers as part of the Wetland Bird Survey, and published in a report today, play a crucial role in the designation of protected wetland sites in Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and underline their importance in helping to conserve our waterbirds...
National community of garden birdwatchers offers people the opportunity to stay connected to nature from home
April 2020
Each week, for the past 25 years, an army of citizen scientists has recorded the birds and other wildlife visiting their gardens, enabling researchers at the BTO to answer important questions about garden wildlife...
The early bird counts the worms
March 2020
Humble earthworms are vital for soil health, but concerns are being expressed about declines in their populations...
Building for bats in an urban world
February 2020
A new study by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and the University of Turin shows how to minimise impacts of urban growth on bats at a time when the need for new housing often hits the headlines...
It’s official – the Wren is our commonest bird
February 2020
In the latest report looking at the size of our bird populations the Wren tops the list with 11 million pairs across the UK...
ARTISTS AND WRITERS SHOW SOME LOVE FOR RED-LISTED BIRDS
January 2020
A new creative collaboration, bringing together two of Britain’s wild bird charities and leading writers and artists, has just been launched...
The 2019 breeding season; a year to remember for Blackcaps and Blue Tits
January 2020
Information collected by British Trust for Ornithology volunteer bird ringers and nest recorders provides an insight into how some of our resident and migratory birds fared during the 2019 breeding season...
Where are all the Turtle Doves and Partridges?
December 2019
The latest BirdTrends report from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) shows a very mixed bag for our birds, with some showing marked increases and others in steep decline...
Scottish owl tracked to Morocco's 'oyster capital'
December 2019
A Short-eared Owl, fitted with a satellite tag while breeding in Scotland, has been tracked to Morocco, revealing significant new information for British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) researchers...
Glimmers of hope for UK's wild birds
November 2019
Published today, the Wild Bird Populations in the UK, 1970-2018 report shows that after years of decline, and despite a poor 2018 breeding season, there are the signs of recovery for at least some of our wild birds...
Gardenwatch; first findings on how we can improve our gardens for wildlife
October 2019
Gardens provide important space for our wildlife, but they could provide even more, according to preliminary results from Gardenwatch, the UK’s biggest-ever garden audit...
UK wetlands get a health check
October 2019
Wetland Bird Survey (WeBS) Alerts, published today, highlight how well protected wetland sites in Great Britain and Northern Ireland are working for wintering waterbirds in the short-, medium- and long-term...
Independent review finds charity delivering remarkable impact
September 2019
An independent panel of leading scientists, reviewing the impact of the British Trust for Ornithology’s (BTO) scientific work, has recognised both the charity’s remarkable impact on policy and practice and its strong leadership role in the environmental sector...
Wildlife and wind farms: Are British gulls staying safe in the winter sun?
September 2019
New research by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), published today in the Journal of Applied Ecology, shows that Lesser Black-backed Gulls breeding in Britain could be vulnerable to collisions with wind turbines whilst on migration and during the winter months, as well as during the breeding season...
Fifty years of citizen science shows a positive response to climate change by a third of English breeding birds
September 2019
New research, just published in the journal Bird Study, has shown that one third of 68 breeding species in England have been affected by climate change, leading to notable increases in some and declines in a few...
British scientists working with local conservationists to track the fortunes of Cuckoos in Mongolia
August 2019
For the last eight years the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has been using satellite tags to uncover the mystery surrounding the migration of Cuckoos breeding in Britain in order to understand, and inform measures to help reverse, their precipitous decline...
Increases in generalist predator populations are associated with Pheasant releases
July 2019
New research from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), just published in the Journal of Applied Ecology, has revealed that the release of Pheasants and Red-legged Partridges for commercial shoots may be boosting numbers of the avian predators and scavengers that feed upon them...
Scientists follow amazing Cuckoos on their journey to Africa
June 2019
As part of a project to discover what might be driving the decline in UK Cuckoo numbers, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has fitted four of these iconic birds with satellite tags...
Boom time at Britain's bird feeders
May 2019
The latest research from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), published today in the journal Nature Communications, reveals the considerable consequences of an innocuous national pastime...
Greenfinches disappearing in Northern Ireland
May 2019
According to the latest report, published today, Greenfinches in Northern Ireland are in trouble; declining by a massive 75% between 1995 and 2017...
Scottish Starlings struggle
May 2019
In a report published today, Scottish Starling numbers have fallen by almost a third, following an alarming trend that is mirrored across the UK...
Iconic Welsh bird disappearing
May 2019
The latest Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) report, published today, shows that the Welsh breeding Curlew population has fallen by 68% between 1995 and 2017, not good news for a bird that has long been associated with Welsh upland and farmland...
UK's birds hit by weather double whammy in 2018
May 2019
The latest results published today in the 2018 Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) report, suggest that the Beast from the East and Saharan winds may have had a big impact on both resident and migrant birds...
Volunteer efforts yield new insights into Britain and Ireland's birds
April 2019
The efforts of 60,000 volunteers, mapping the distribution of breeding and wintering birds, have opened up valuable knowledge to researchers and members of the public through new open access resources...
Leading scientists call for UK funding body to recognise high impact of conservation research
February 2019
In a letter to Nature published this week, leading scientists from BirdLife International, Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) suggest that the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), the Government body that funds biodiversity research in the UK, should direct greater resources to NGOs and charities...
Edinburgh primary school children receive award for citizen science.
February 2019
Pupils at Broughton Primary School have been recognized by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and EDF Energy for their contribution to What’s Under Your Feet?, a national citizen science project...
