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Bird Surveys

Bird Surveys. Bird Populations. Birds can be grouped into a number of populations Populations depend on whether they breed in Britain and where they are over winter periods. Resident Species Summer Visitors Winter Visitors Passage Migrants Vagrants and Accidentals. Bird Survey Methods.

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Bird Surveys

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  1. Bird Surveys

  2. Bird Populations • Birds can be grouped into a number of populations • Populations depend on whether they breed in Britain and where they are over winter periods

  3. Resident Species • Summer Visitors • Winter Visitors • Passage Migrants • Vagrants and Accidentals

  4. Bird Survey Methods • Counts of colonies, roosts, flocks and leks • Territory mapping • Line transects • Point counts

  5. Bird Counts • Colonies • Leks • Roosts • Migration • Wildfowl and wader counts

  6. Territory Mapping • Many birds are territorial during the breeding season, marking the boundaries of their territories with song • Territory mapping is used to determine how many territories of each species there are in a given study area

  7. Line Transects • Line transects are used to survey birds of open habitats • The surveyor walks along the chosen route, recording the birds seen on either side • Ideally the route should be random rather than following any linear features such as a hedge or stream which might affect the bird species seen

  8. Point Counts • A point count is a bird count carried out from a fixed point for a fixed period of time • Counting stations can be laid out on a grid or randomly, and the surveyor counts the number of each bird species for a fixed time

  9. The Bird Ringing Scheme • Allows birds to be identified • A lightweight, numbered split metal ring is placed around the bird’s leg • Each ring carries an address so that anyone finding a ringed bird can report its whereabouts

  10. Constant Effort Sites (CES) • This scheme was the first national standardised ringing programme • It monitors the population dynamics of 28 common breeding song birds of scrub and wetland habitats

  11. Re-trapping Adults for Survival (RAS) • This scheme gathers survival data for a wide range of species • All fully-trained ringers are encouraged to register to carry out a RAS study

  12. Migration Watch • British Trust of Ornathology (BTO) has recently initiated a project called migration watch • Volunteers are asked to note the birds they see each day, recording their observations on a user-friendly website

  13. Nest Record Scheme • The BTO nest record scheme is the biggest and most active such scheme in the world • They have over 35,000 records collected each year from about 1000 volunteer birdwatchers

  14. Common Bird Census • The common bird census is run by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO). • It was started in 1962 with the aim of monitoring farmland bird populations in response to the increasing use of agrochemicals

  15. Atlas of Breeding Birds • Possible breeding • Probable breeding • Confirmed breeding The records are collated across the UK to give distribution maps for each species

  16. Garden Bird Watch • A permanent, ongoing bird survey for anyone with access to a garden, however small. • The scheme is deliberately simplified to enable busy people to contribute.

  17. Species Surveys • At any given time, the BTO and RSPB are carrying out a number of surveys on species whose conservation is of particular interest or concern. Here are two examples: • 1999 Nightingale Survey • 2002 Peregrine Survey

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