Publications

Publications

BTO create and publish a variety of important articles, papers, journals and other publications, independently and with our partners, for organisations, government and the private sector. Some of our publications (books, guides and atlases) are also available to buy in our online shop.

Annual report of the Seabird Monitoring Programme

Seabird Population Trends and Causes of Change: 1986–2023

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

The report documents changes in the abundance and productivity of breeding seabird species in Britain and Ireland from 1986 to 2023, and provides a detailed account of the 2021, 2022 and 2023 breeding seasons.

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Annual report of the Seabird Monitoring Programme

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Why is timing of bird migration advancing when individuals are not?

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Published: 2013

The BTO is involved in new research led the University of East Anglia, showing that young birds are the trend-setters when it comes to migration. It had generally been believed that the flexibility of individuals to respond to warmer springs lies behind the phenomenon of advancing migration. In this paper, focusing on the changing arrival dates of Black-tailed Godwits in Iceland, the authors show that individual, colour-ringed birds are not changing their schedules over time. Instead, it is the earlier spring migration of birds hatched in more recent years that lies behind the observed pattern of advancing arrival for the species. The research team has been following the same colour-ringed Black-tailed Godwits for up to twenty years, with the help of over 2000 observers. Most birds hatched in the 1990s arrived in Iceland in May but those hatched in recent years are tending to arrive in April. Climate change is likely to be driving this change because godwits nest earlier in warmer years, and birds that hatch earlier are likely to have more time to gain the body condition needed for migration and find good places to spend the winter, which can help them to return early to Iceland when they come back to breed. Read the abstract Full citation: Gill, J.A., Alves, J.A., Sutherland, W.J., Appleton, G.F., Potts, P.M. & Gunnarsson, T.G. 2013. Why is timing of bird migration advancing when individuals are not? Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B 281, 20132161. doi: 10.1098/rspb.2013.2161

13.11.13

Papers

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WeBS News - Issue 29

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Published: 2013

03.10.13

Newsletters Waterbird News

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State of Nature report 2013

Author:

Published: 2013

The report summarises information on trends in more than 3100 species within the major taxonomic groups assessed. The report presents a new Watchlist Indicator, a cross-taxa priority species indicator that tracks changes in the abundance of 155 high priority species for conservation for which trend data are available. This demonstrates that, overall, conservation efforts to reverse the declines in these species have not yet succeeded, and highlights the need to refine the Watchlist Indicator and produce comparable measures from a broader range of species. This report is an excellent use of the population trends produced with the high quality bird data collected in the BTO’s major partnership schemes.

22.05.13

Reports State of Nature

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