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BirdTrends

BirdTrends 2023

Read BTO’s BirdTrends 2023 Report

2024 |

BTO’s BirdTrends 2023 report provides summary information about the population status of the common breeding birds of the wider UK countryside.

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Latest Publications

Research Reports

Seabird Population Trends and Causes of Change: 1986–2023, the annual report of the Seabird Monitoring Programme

SMP Annual Report 1986–2023

2024 | Harris, S.J., Baker, H., Balmer, D.E., Bolton, M., Burton, N.H.K., Caulfield, E., Clarke, J.A.E., Dunn, T.E., Evans, T.J., Hereward, H.R.F., Humphreys, E.M., Money, S. and O’Hanlon, N.J.

The latest seabird population trends in breeding abundance and productivity using data from the Seabird Monitoring Programme (SMP).

LifeCycle

LifeCycle issue 13, Autumn 2024

2024 |

Issue 13 contains articles on monitoring Kestrels, highlights a Stonechat monitoring project in the New Forest and a Goosander-tagging project in Scotland, and sheds light on some unusual Rock Pipi

Peer-reviewed papers

Improving acoustic species identification using data augmentation within a deep learning framework

2024 | MacIsaac, J., Newson, S., Ashton-Butt, A., Pearce, H. & Milner, B. Ecological Informatics

Research Reports
Lapwing chick, by Liz Cutting

Watching Out for Waders: The Working for Waders Nest Camera Project

2024 | Noyes, P., Laurie, P., Wetherhill, A. & Wilson, M.

Low rates of nest and chick survival, caused mainly by predation, have driven large declines in breeding wader populations across Scotland.

Annual Review

Annual Report & Accounts 2023/24

2024 |

Peer-reviewed papers
Reedbed, by Mike Toms / BTO

Estimating the distribution of reed Phragmites australis in Britain demonstrates challenges of remotely sensing rare habitat types at large spatial scales

2024 | Davies, J.G., Dytham, C., Robinson, R.A. & Beale, C.M. Scientific Reports

Although the reed plant is an invasive species in much of the world, in Britain reedbed is a relatively scarce habitat, but one that is important for a several bird species.

Peer-reviewed papers
Fire in the Great Côa Valley, by Agata Rucin / Rewilding Portugal

Protected areas, drought, and grazing regimes influence fire occurrence in a fire-prone Mediterranean region

2024 | Kirkland, M., Atkinson, P.W., Aliácar, S., Saavedra, D., De Jong, M.C., Dowling, T.P.F. & Ashton-Butt, A. Fire Ecology

This study builds on previous work as part of the ‘Polesia: wilderness without borders’ project, which

Research Reports
BTO Research Report 772 cover

Trial of the use of silicone cord leg-loop harnesses on Black-legged Kittiwake during the 2023 breeding season

Testing harness designs for tracking seabirds

2024 | O’Hanlon, N.J., Clewley, G.D., Davies, J.G., Johnston, D.T., Booth Jones, K.A., Green, R.M.W., Weston, E., Humphreys, E.M. & Cook, A.S.C.P.

WeBS News

Waterbirdnews Issue 40 (Autumn 2024)

The newsletter of the Wetland Bird Survey and the Goose & Swan Monitoring Programme.

2024 |

Browse all issues of Waterbirdnews >

Peer-reviewed papers
Kittiwake, by Richard Jackson / BTO

Influence of wind on kittiwake Rissa tridactyla flight and offshore wind turbine collision risk

2024 | Davies, J.G., Boersch-Supan, P.H., Clewley, G.D., Humphreys, E.M., O’Hanlon, N.J., Shamoun-Baranes, J., Thaxter, C.B., Weston, E. & Cook, A.S.C.P. Marine Biology

Many new offshore wind farms are planned, but much uncertainty remains in Kittiwake collision risk, which makes decision-making around offshore wind farm development less efficient.

Peer-reviewed papers
Great Black-backed Gull, by Liz Cutting / BTO

The status of the UK’s breeding seabirds: an addendum to the fifth Birds of Conservation Concern in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man and second IUCN Red List assessment of extinction risk for Great Britain

2024 | Stanbury, A.J., Burns, F., Aebischer, N.J., Baker, H., Balmer, D., Brown, A.F., Dunn, T., Lindley, P., Murphy, M., Noble, D.G., Owens, R. & Quinn, L. British Birds

The conservation status of breeding seabirds is updated in this paper, with an additional five (Leach’s Storm-petrel, Common Gull, Great Black-backed Gull, Arctic Tern and Great Skua) joining the B

Peer-reviewed papers
Tagged Arctic Skua, by Sarah Harris / BTO

New insights into the migration and wintering areas of Scottish-breeding Arctic Skuas

2024 | O’Hanlon, N.J., van Bemmelen, R.S.A., Conway, G.J., Thaxter, C.B., Aiton, H., Aiton, D., Balmer, D.E., Calladine, J.R., Harris, S.J. & Humphreys, E.M. British Birds

Arctic Skuas breed in dwindling numbers on Scotland’s northern coasts and islands.

Peer-reviewed papers
Bird ringing, by Rob Read / BTO

Differential changes in the morphology and fuel loads of obligatory and partial migrant passerines over half a century in Britain

2024 | Pickett, H.R.W., Robinson, R.A. & Nudds, R.L. Movement Ecology

Climate change can also lead to changes in distribution, at either the northern or southern end of their migratory route.

Peer-reviewed papers
Bird ringing data, by David Tipling / BTO

Treating gaps and biases in biodiversity data as a missing data problem

2024 | Bowler, D.E., Boyd, R.J., Callaghan, C.T., Robinson, R.A., Isaac, N.J.B. & Pocock, M.J.O. Biological Reviews

However, such data do need to be treated carefully if they are to yield reliable evidence. One problem that frequently occurs is that of gaps in coverage caused by, for example, missing visits.

Research Reports
Oystercatcher, by Liz Cutting / BTO

How effective has the management of Cockle and Mussel fisheries on The Wash estuary been in ensuring that there is sufficient food for birds?

Does the management of shell fisheries leave food for the birds?

2024 | Kirkland, M., Atkinson, P.W., Clark J.A. & Robinson, R.A.

During the 1980s, high fishing mortality of the Mussel stocks led to an almost complete disappearance of Mussel beds in The Wash, with the Mussel fishery closing in 1994.

Peer-reviewed papers
Gannet, by Edmund Fellowes / BTO

The value of seabird foraging ranges as a tool to investigate the impact of offshore wind farms

2024 | Woodward, I.D., Thaxter, C.B., Owen, E., Bolton, M., Ward, R.M. & Cook, A.S.C.P. Ocean and Coastal Management

The UK’s seabirds have experienced substantial population declines in recent years, thanks to many pressures including overfishing, climate change, severe weather and most recently,

Peer-reviewed papers
Woodcock, by Ross Goodwin / BTO

Population and distribution change of Eurasian Woodcocks Scolopax rusticola breeding in the UK: results from the 2023 ‘Breeding Woodcock Survey’

2024 | Heward, C.J., Conway, G.J., Hoodless, A.N., Norfolk, D. & Aebischer, N.J. Bird Study

Breeding Woodcocks are difficult to monitor through traditional multi-species surveys because of their nocturnal behaviour and cryptic plumage.

Peer-reviewed papers
Pheasant, by Sarah Kelman / BTO

Supplementary bird feeding as an overlooked contribution to local phosphorus cycles.

Does feeding birds alter the phosphorus cycle

2024 | Abraham, A., Doughty, C., Plummer, K. & Duvall, E. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution

The seeds, grains and nuts that make up the supplementary food provided to birds at feeding stations are typically imported to the sites where they are used, and may have been grown many hundreds o

Peer-reviewed papers
Greater Spotted Eagle, by David Tipling / BTO

Active European warzone impacts raptor migration

2024 | Russell, C., Franco, A., Atkinson, P., Väli, Ü. & Ashton-Butt, A. Current Biology

Collaborative research involving BTO has examined the effects of the conflict in Ukraine on the migration of the endangered Greater Spotted Eagle.

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