Overview

BTO has a long history of supporting long-running national monitoring schemes such as the Breeding Bird Survey, Wetland Bird Survey, Seabird Monitoring Programme and Nest Record Scheme. As well as national scale information on birds that these surveys provide, there is also a growing demand for monitoring at smaller spatial scales, from National Parks and estates to smaller local wildlife sites. Often, the best evidence of the efficacy of particular interventions comes from smaller scale monitoring.

However, the design and set up of a monitoring programme can be challenging. This guide is aimed at the organisers of – and participants in – local scale monitoring projects. It deals with the fundamental questions of what you might want to measure and why; how to choose between established methods for sampling and counting; and how to manage your volunteers and the data they collect. Readers are encouraged to use methods that closely align with those used in national schemes. By collecting data in a particular way, comparisons between local- and national-level data become possible, so giving added value to the data collected.

As well as this guide on how to collect data, we now also publish the data and analysed outputs from smaller spatial scales, derived from the wide range of our national volunteer monitoring schemes. For information on how birds have changed in your county, Local Nature Recovery Strategy area or bird recording area, please visit out BirdFacts Places site. You might find that the information you need is already available.

This guide is also available from Zenodo and carries a DOI: doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.15657012