A large tracking dataset was used to assess the behavioural responses of migrating Curlew to offshore windfarms, of which there are many in the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Most individuals showed medium-scale avoidance responses in the horizontal and vertical planes. Up to 15.8% of the individuals migrated at elevated risk without showing avoidance reactions. Collision risk and energetic constraints by circumventing the turbines are discussed.

A review paper by BTO considers 203 studies of the effects of air pollution on 231 bird species. Of these studies, 82% document at least one negative effect associated with increasing levels of pollution. The review also highlights biases towards particular study species, especially Great Tit and Pied Flycatcher, and also towards particular geographical regions (Western Europe) and pollutants (heavy metals). The paper proposes research approaches that could help to provide a fuller understanding of how birds are impacted by air pollution.

Understanding how human activities influence biodiversity change at different spatial scales is one of the key questions in our attempts to tackle biodiversity loss. This study, using the most comprehensive dataset of its kind, sought to understand the drivers of population change in European birds.

In this study, BTO scientists mapped large fires that occurred over a 19-year period in Polesia, a region containing some of Europe’s last pristine peatlands and lowland forests in Eastern Europe. Fires are of great concern to policymakers in the region due to the economic and health costs, and a lot of resources are used to suppress fires during hot and dry years. There are potentially natural solutions to fires, however, that could also benefit birds, biodiversity and climate issues. These ‘nature-based’ solutions include restoring drained wetlands. In this study, freely-available satellite data were used to explore the prevalence of large fires and the factors causing them. This allowed researchers to explore whether restoring the landscape’s wetlands could reduce the increasing risk of large, damaging fires as the climate changes.