BTO Research Reports

BTO Research Reports

BTO Research Reports are scientific papers that have been self-published by the BTO. The following is a full list of the published BTO research reports, which includes BBS reports, Waterbirds in the UK (WeBS) reports and SMP reports. Most are free to download, and links to Abstracts are included where possible.

Numbers missing from the list are those allocated but which were never produced or which have not been published. BTO recognises that, particularly in respect of commercially sensitive cases, a period of confidentiality is appropriate for some projects. However, in the interests of scientific development and dissemination of information, we encourage clients to permit publication as soon as it is reasonable to do so.

BTO Research Report 778

Assessment of recent Hen Harrier population trends in England through population modelling

This study uses a population modelling approach to explore the effects of changes in rates of productivity, survival, and settlement on population growth in the English population of Hen Harriers.

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BTO Research Report 778

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Bioacoustics as a novel approach for detecting the presence of Brown Rats on seabird islands

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Published: 2023

Static acoustic bat detectors were deployed over a six-month winter survey season, to explore the possibility for using acoustics to detect and monitor the presence of Brown Rats on Rathlin Island in Northern Ireland. This report provides an overview of the survey coverage and main results from 2022/23. This research used the BTO Acoustic Pipeline to process and analyse sound recordings.

27.07.23

BTO Research Reports

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Assessing movements of Lesser Black-backed Gulls using GPS tracking devices in relation to the Galloper Wind Farm

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Published: 2023

A programme of Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus tagging and tracking work was initiated within the Alde-Ore Estuary Special Protection Area during the 2019 breeding season, and continued throughout the 2020 breeding season, in order to fulfil requirements of the Galloper Wind Farm Ornithological Monitoring Programme and test key predictions of the Environmental Statement. The results from both the 2019 and 2020 breeding seasons of tracking are summarised within this report.

13.07.23

BTO Research Reports

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Development of an Upland Bird Indicator for the UK and for England

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Published: 2023

When the suite of wild bird indicators was first developed for England and the UK in the late 1990s, it was felt that insufficient data was available to be able to produce a sufficiently robust indicator for upland habitats. With the continuation and growth of the BTO/JNCC/RSPB UK Breeding Bird Survey, targeted efforts to improve coverage in the uplands (such as the NE-funded Upland Breeding Bird Survey and the BBS’s Upland Rovers initiative), as well as further repeated surveys of scarcer breeding species under the SCARABBS (Statutory Conservation Agency and RSPB Annual Breeding Bird Scheme) programme, it was considered now feasible to develop a robust and sufficiently long-term upland indicator alongside those for other habitats. In doing so we can fill an obvious gap in the reporting on England and the UK’s biodiversity, on the drivers upon it, and the success of efforts to protect our important upland environment.

06.07.23

BTO Research Reports

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Waterbirds in the UK 2021/22

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Published: Winter 2023

Waterbirds in the UK presents the results of the annual Wetland Bird Survey Report. It provides a single, comprehensive source of information on the current status and distribution of waterbirds in the UK for those interested in the conservation of the populations of these species and the wetland sites they use.

27.04.23

Reports Waterbirds in the UK

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Production of smoothed population trends when a key year of data is missing

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Published: 2023

This report explores the impact on the direction and statistical confidence in the individual species trends from which the wild bird indicator is composed when including missing years in the dataset, using simulated subsets of real data from previous years. This report was prompted by the impacts of Covid-19 lockdown restrictions on survey effort.

12.04.23

BTO Research Reports

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