BirdTrack

Help us track the outbreak of avian influenza with BirdTrack

You can now send us sightings of sick and dead birds through BirdTrack. These records give us a real-time picture of the locations and species affected by the disease, to help us track its impact and spread.

Please remember to report all dead birds to Defra (England, Scotland and Wales) or Daera (Northern Ireland) as well, to assist in efforts to test dead birds for the disease.

Arctic Tern Photographer Jeremy Moore

BirdTrack is a free and convenient way of storing your bird records online. BirdTrack lets you keep up to date with what others are seeing, view the latest trends, and contribute your data to BTO science.

Created through a partnership between the BTO, the RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and the Welsh Ornithological Society, BirdTrack is an exciting project 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.

Taking part in BirdTrack is easy and fun. You simply provide some information about yourself, the sites where you go birdwatching, when you go birdwatching and most importantly, the birds you identify! BirdTrack allows you to store all of your bird records in a safe, easily accessible and interactive format.

    To participate in BirdTrack you just need to do the following:

    • Go birdwatching and note all the species that you see.
    • Go to the BirdTrack app and register an account. If you have taken part in any other online survey organised by the BTO then please use your existing username and password.
    • Enter the location of your chosen site(s) or select from a popular site.
    • Enter the date and time of your visit and the site you visited.
    • Record the species you saw or heard on your visit.

    We hope that you will have great fun participating in BirdTrack and that you will return to the website frequently to enter more data and to find out what's happening in your area and around the country.

    • National and regional summaries updated every night throughout the year.
    • View all of your own records and compare them with the regional figures.

    Important note about auto-ID tools:

    We recognise the growing popularity of auto-ID tools that use audio or image inputs to provide species identification, but we currently ask volunteers not to solely rely on these tools when submitting data to us.

    Record on the go with BirdTrack Apps

    Log your bird sightings anywhere in the world - Learn more about our mobile apps.

    • 'Smart' species list for adding sightings, containing the birds most likely to be seen in that area.
    • Sync all your existing BirdTrack places and upload everything into your BirdTrack account.

    Go beyond just data entry and use the app to: 

    • View a map of recent sightings.
    • View target species that you haven't seen this year / ever.
    • View your year and life lists.

    Delve into your records

    Use the 'Explore my records' function in BirdTrack to view your data in a range of exciting ways.

    • View your life and year lists at global, regional or local levels.
    • View maps of all your birding locations.
    • Extract the data as tables and graphs.

    Time / Skill Required

    • There is no minimum time commitment.
    • Ideally you will have fairly good bird identification skills.
    Project Lead
    Email Contact
    birdtrack@bto.org
    Follow this project

    Project timeline, contributions & findings

    Project timeline

    • 2002 Migration watch started, with the initial aim of mapping migration
    • 2004 Re-named BirdTrack and expanded to cover all seasons
    • 2013 BirdTrack apps released on iOS and android
    • 2014 BirdTrack global portal released, allowing data to be entered from anywhere in the world
    • 2019 BirdTrack moved to a single site handling both British/Irish records and those from elsewhere in the world
    • 2021 Additional taxa added to BirdTrack: Amphibians, Butterflies, Dragonflies, Mammals, Orchids, and Reptiles can all be recorded
    • 2022 Link to iRecord set-up to facilitate a daily flow of non-avian records from BirdTrack to iRecord
    • 2022 New revised version of the mobile app released.

    Keep your finger on the migration pulse this autumn

    Your BirdTrack data allows us to follow the arrival and departure of migrants through the seasons.

    What's been seen this week? How will the weather affect migration next week? And which species will be arriving near you?

    Visit the blog

    Contact BirdTrack

    Britain

    BirdTrack Organiser
    c/o BTO, The Nunnery
    Thetford, Norfolk
    IP24 2PU

    Tel: +44 (0)1842 750050

    Email: birdtrack@bto.org

    Ireland

    BirdWatch Ireland (BirdTrack contact)
    c/o BirdWatch Ireland
    Unit 20, Block D
    Bullford Business Campus
    Kilcoole, Greystones
    Co. Wicklow, Ireland

    Tel: +353 579151676

    Email: bcaffrey@birdwatchireland.ie



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