Press releases
Hampshire school gets to name its own Cuckoo
September 2015
St Albans C of E Primary and Nursery School, beat schools across the UK to win the chance of naming a Cuckoo fitted with a satellite tag by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)...
Cheshire school gets to name its own Cuckoo
September 2015
Lowton West Primary School in Warrington beat schools across Britain to win the chance of naming a Cuckoo fitted with a satellite tag by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)...
Conwy school gets to name its own Cuckoo
September 2015
Rydal Penrhos Preparatory School, Conwy, beat schools across Britain to win the chance of naming a Cuckoo fitted with a satellite tag by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)...
Northern Irish school gets to name its own Cuckoo
September 2015
Ballymacward Primary School, near Lisburn beat schools across Britain to win the chance of naming a Cuckoo fitted with a satellite tag by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO)...
Wet summer delays garden dragonflies
September 2015
Garden dragonflies were slow to emerge this year, according to preliminary British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Garden BirdWatch results...
BIRD PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR – competition now open for entries
August 2015
COMPETITION LAUNCHED BY CHRIS PACKHAM AND ANDY CLEMENTS ON SATURDAY 22 AUGUST AT THE RUTLAND BIRDFAIR Crowds of people braved the searing heat on the BTO stand at the Rutland Birdfair to witness the launch of the inaugural 'Bird Photographer of the Year' competition by BTO President, Chris Packham...
Tense times for ornithologists as famous Cuckoo goes missing
August 2015
A satellite-tagged Cuckoo, named Chris after wildlife presenter Chris Packham, is giving scientists at the British Trust for Ornithology sleepless nights...
Scottish woodpeckers seen in record numbers
August 2015
It’s always a privilege to have Great Spotted Woodpeckers visiting your garden feeder and even more so if your garden is in Scotland...
Calling all photographers - Bird Photographer of the Year
August 2015
Introducing a brand new photography competition...
Some respite for Britain's birds
July 2015
Some stay, some go, but 2013 to 2014 was a good year for many of Britain’s birds...
Golden Plover in trouble but Siskin and warblers thrive across Scotland
July 2015
The latest Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) report, released today, reveals Golden Plover and Kestrel are in trouble across Scotland, whilst warbler and Siskin populations are thriving...
Meadow Pipits get a break
July 2015
The latest Breeding Bird Survey report shows how the mild winter of 2013/14 was a welcome change for Northern Ireland’s birds after the cold spring of 2013...
Stonechats bounce back in Wales
July 2015
The latest Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) report, released today, reveals good news for Welsh birds, with several species bouncing back in 2014 after being badly affected by the cold spring of 2013...
Research delivers new tools for understanding why Britain’s bird populations are in decline
July 2015
Researchers at the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) have delivered a powerful new tool which will help target conservation efforts to support declining populations of woodland and farmland bird species...
Bird scientists go batty in Norfolk
July 2015
New research from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) just published in the international journal Biological Conservation, shows how data collected by an army of volunteer citizen scientists have been used to map bats in unprecedented detail...
BTO's longest-running census goes online
June 2015
The Heronries Census, run by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), counted its first Grey Heron nest way back in 1928; 400,000 nests later it has gone digital...
Eight more Cuckoos join the fight for their species
June 2015
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) have fitted state of the art satellite tags to eight more Cuckoos during the last few weeks to help understand why this iconic bird is disappearing from large parts of the UK...
Over 7 million* schoolchildren are being asked to get their hands dirty for science
June 2015
As part of a new partnership, the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and EDF Energy are asking schools across Britain to take part in a scientific study that will for the first time map what is under our feet...
European birds at risk of extinction
June 2015
Nature alert: Nearly one in five bird species in Europe is at risk of extinction according to the European Red List of Birds, compiled by BirdLife International and using data gathered by BTO volunteers...
Novel research will unravel Europe-wide patterns of bird migration and distribution
June 2015
The EuroBirdPortal (EBP) project and its demo viewer (www...
Warm weather boost for butterflies
May 2015
Despite variable weather so far this spring, all it takes is a few days of warm sunshine for butterfly numbers to rocket...
House Martin help needed in Northern Ireland
May 2015
The House Martin, a bird that nests under the eaves of buildings, has increased in Northern Ireland by a massive 82% since 1995, giving more people in Northern Ireland the chance to observe this delightful summer visitor on their homes...
House Martin help needed in Scotland
May 2015
The House Martin, a bird that nests under the eaves of buildings, has increased in Scotland by a massive 125% since 1995, giving more people in Scotland the chance to observe this delightful summer visitor on their homes...
New research to help farmland birds
May 2015
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has launched a new appeal today to help tackle the continuing decline of many once familiar farmland birds...
Britain’s most famous Cuckoo is back!
April 2015
A Cuckoo named Chris, after the wildlife TV presenter Chris Packham, has defied all the odds and returned to his Suffolk home for the fifth summer since he was fitted with a satellite-tag to follow his amazing journey...
BTO Cuckoos are back!
April 2015
Two of the British Trust for Ornithology satellite-tagged Cuckoos have made it back to the UK, having left for the winter in Africa ten months earlier...
New report highlights the value of the UK's wetlands
April 2015
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Offshore wind farm risk to seabirds varies between years
April 2015
Offshore wind farms are now operating or being constructed all around the UK as the government invests in renewable energy, but what are the consequences of such developments for our wildlife? New research by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) has used state-of-the-art GPS tags to show how Lesser Black-backed Gulls breeding at a protected site in Suffolk use areas of sea where offshore wind farms already exist, and where future developments are earmarked...
What's happening to Buckinghamshire's Dunnocks?
April 2015
Due to the breeding population decline of Dunnocks in the UK over the past 45 years, this ‘common garden visitor’ has been given an amber conservation status...
