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Birdwatch rules

Black
29/01/2011 20:16
It has long been a rule that you can only count as a total for each species the highest number that are seen at any time. However, where the males and females are easily distinguishable (blackbirds, sparrows,etc), would it not be sensible to add up the maximum numbers for each sex seen at any one time and them add those together for a species total at the end? Likewise, birds only flying over are not to be counted. What about a bird which lands on a garage roof and looks down into the garden to see whether anything interests it? Should these be counted?
  • 13/02/2012 19:32 in reply to SharWood

    The reason the hour is so important is to apply some kind of scientific baseline to the survey. If some people do the survey for a strict hour, but others list everything they've ever seen in their garden, the data become less meaningful from a scientific point of view.

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  • 14/02/2012 14:02 in reply to Pete Mella

    It's clear to see why, as a scientific survey, the one hour rule at the times specified has been in place.....but what about birds that do not appear during this time....OWLS!? Some of us are lucky enough to have regular owls who are only sighted at dawn or after dusk and cannot therefore record them. In view of concerns about the Barn Owl population, for example, is there any survey that takes them into account please?

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  • 14/02/2012 16:50 in reply to Wyllow

    Wyllow , I'm not aware of any specific surveys being undertaken at the moment but your county recorder will always be interested in receiving details of your sitings. As well as the county recorder there are various groups around the country who would also be interested.

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