Fersiwn Gymraeg ar gael yma
Are you a birdwatcher and would like to help contribute to the conservation of Wales’ birds?
If so, we would really appreciate your involvement in the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) this spring. Taking only around six hours of your time to do each year, this survey tells us much about the state of our breeding birds which, in our fast-changing world, has never been more urgent.
What is the Breeding Bird Survey?
Starting in 1994, the main purpose of the Breeding Bird Survey is to track the population trends of our common UK breeding birds. All the survey involves is visiting a one-kilometre square twice during the spring, where you’ll record what you see and hear as you walk along two transects.
Not a bird expert? Not a problem! While you should be confident with ID for our commoner breeding species by sight and sound, it is only important that you know how to recognise the birds that are likely to be encountered in your square. There also isn’t the expectation that you should find every single bird present either, as this is a sample survey, and any changes in species populations will still appear in our results.
In Wales, thanks to our team of volunteers, we can provide trends for 60 species, which are all publicly available in the latest BBS report. As you can see from the graphs below, birds such as Swifts and Yellowhammers have undergone a major decline over the last three decades in Wales, whilst others, such as Great Spotted Woodpecker and Blackcap, have increased significantly.
Why is this survey important?
Birds are key indicators of ecosystem health, so recording changes in their numbers tells us a lot about the state of our wider environment. With climate change, land-use changes and pollution increasingly prominent in our media, understanding how these challenges are impacting our birds is more important than ever. Wales plays a vital role in supporting the UK populations of species like Wood Warbler and Pied Flycatcher, but there are several regions that are under-recorded, and the picture of what is going on is far from clear.
BBS training in Wales this spring.
This spring our project partners, the BTO, have organised ten free training events throughout Wales, including two at our RSPB reserves at Ynys Hir (March 16th) and Cors Ddyga (March 22nd), which will be co-run by RSPB staff who work on the site. If you’re curious to know more but cannot attend a training event, an online-only session has also been arranged for March 25th. To sign up to a session near you, please visit the BTO Cymru events page or, if you think you are ready to dive in, please visit the square-request page, where you can get in contact with one of the BTO’s regional coordinators and find a square suitable for you.
By taking part, you’ll be making a big difference to our understanding of what conservation policies are needed to ensure the best possible future for our birds, and the wider natural heritage we all share.
[Dots represent the annual index values and the solid line a smoothed index to account for year-to-year fluctuation. The shaded area represents the ‘85% confidence interval’, a measure of the uncertainty around the smooth index. Photo credits: Adrian Dancy, Sarah Kelman, Dennis Atherton, Liz Cutting’]