Volunteer, by Kat Booth Jones / BTO

Capturing data in the field with citizen science and species expertise

Browse the range of active BTO projects, schemes and surveys. Learn what they contribute to science, and how to participate.

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Greenfinch. Photograph by Jill Pakenham

Garden Wildlife Health

Tell us about sick and diseased wildlife found in your garden. Garden BirdWatch participants can also add observations when entering their usual GBW counts.

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Grey Heron. Photograph by John Harding

Contributions & findings

  • The latest Grey Heron population trends from the Heronries Census are discussed on the Grey Heron page in the BTO's BirdTrends report.
  • The modelled annual population estimates for the UK, now spanning more than 80 years, show a long-term increase.
Mountain Hare. Andy Howard

Volunteer Mountain Hare Survey

This project aims to gather much-needed information about Mountain Hares in Scotland. Volunteers record hares and (optionally) upland birds via the Mammal Mapper app or with paper field recording sheets.

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Wader Calendar

The Wader Calendar is a quick and easy way for farmers to record waders on their farm and contribute to a national monitoring scheme.

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WeBS counting. Photograph by Teresa Frost

Contributions & findings

  • 3.75 million waterbirds are counted for WeBS each year.
  • WeBS produces annual indices for 110 waterbird species or populations
  • Species totals published annually for over 2,700 sites as open data on the WeBS Report Online