Reports

Reports

BTO publishes various reports, from those covering the annual results of core surveys, through scientific studies, and on to those produced in partnership with other organisations. Many of these are published as BTO Research Reports, which includes BBS reports, Waterbirds in the UK (WeBS) reports and SMP reports. You can access all of our reports from here, though note that we are currently updating the reports section, working backwards through time to bring all of the report pages into a consistent format. You can read our Annual Report and Accounts in the Governance section.

Search settings

Order by

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

Author: Newson, S.E., Else, R., Crymble, J., Gilbert, G., Tosh, D.G. & Booth Jones, K.A.

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

Download file

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

Author: Green, R.M., Thaxter, C.B., Johnston, D.T., Boersch-Supan, P.H., Bouten, W. & Burton, N.H.K.

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

Download file

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

Author: Noble, D.G. & Barnes, A.E.

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

Download file

The Breeding Bird Survey 2022

Author: Heywood, J.J.N., Massimino, D., Balmer, D.E., Kelly, L., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Woodcock, P., Wotton, S., Gillings, S. & Harris, S.J.

Published: 2023

25.05.23

Reports BBS Report

Download file

Waterbirds in the UK 2021/22

Author: Austin, G.E., Calbrade, N.A., Birtles, G.A., Peck, K., Wotton, S.R., Shaw, J.M., Balmer, D.E. & Frost, T.M.

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

Download file

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

Author: Noble, D.G. & Gillings, S.

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

Download file

Analysis of waterbird population trends for Northern Ireland’s sea loughs: assessing the potential impacts of aquaculture and disturbance. Part 3 – Larne Lough, Killough Harbour and Dundrum Inner Bay

Author: Author(s): Booth Jones, K., O’Connell, P., Calbrade, N. & Austin, G.

Published: 2023

This study is part three of a series of sector‐level analysis reports on sea‐lough WeBS data in Northern Ireland, previously documenting Carlingford Lough, Strangford Lough, Belfast Lough, and Lough Foyle, which were chosen as sites that host aquaculture activities. These reports aim to improve understanding of the fluctuations in numbers of waterbirds within the sites and inform the consenting of operations and assessment of development plans on these protected areas. This report aims to provide an initial insight into the potential impact of intertidal Oyster aquaculture on trends in Larne Lough, Killough Harbour and Dundrum Inner Bay.

17.03.23

BTO Research Reports

Download file

Scroll down