What is BirdTrack?
BirdTrack is an
online bird recording scheme developed through an exciting partnership between BTO, RSPB and BirdWatch Ireland. It
is a year–round recording scheme that will use data from birdwatchers records to support species and site conservation
at local, national and international scales. Results produced by BirdTrack will
include mapping the migration and movements of birds and monitoring of scarce birds in Britain and Ireland. BirdTrack
follows on from the successful Migration Watch project that looked at spring migration in 2002-2004. We know very little about the timing of arrival and departure of winter visitors and this is just
one area in which BirdTrack will provide useful information. There are also many
scarce birds where we would like to know much more about their populations.
The development of BirdTrack is an on-going process and new features will be added to the website over the next two
years. We intend to provide a comprehensive bird recording scheme that birdwatchers
can use to store all of their birdwatching records. We will be working closely
with county bird recorders to ensure that your records are also available for use at a local level. With your permission, all of your records will automatically be forwarded to the relevant county recorder.
We need your lists!
The success of
BirdTrack relies on your birdwatching lists. We need to gather a large number
of lists at all times of the year from throughout Britain and Ireland. We prefer complete lists of birds (all species seen and heard)
because the proportion of lists with a given species provides a good measure of frequency of occurrence that can be used for
population monitoring. Incomplete lists and casual records can also be entered
because they too build our understanding of populations and so provide a comprehensive record of what you have seen.
Look at the results
The local and national results are available on the website for everyone to look at - you don’t
have to be a BirdTrack recorder. There are animated maps showing the arrival
and departure of migrants and the seasonal movements of birds. For scarce species,
such as Hawfinch, Lesser Spotted Woodpecker, Woodcock and Water Rail we will be building up a picture of their distribution
throughout the year. You can also view your own records through specially designed
features.
How to take part
BirdTrack is organised by BTO on behalf
of BTO, RSPB and BirdWatch Ireland |
Visit the BirdTrack website (www.birdtrack.net) to register as a recorder (it’s
free!). If you took part in Migration Watch please use the same user name and
password and you will be able to access all of your Migration Watch records. If
you are new to the website, there are a few simple steps to get set up as a recorder.
You can then start to enter your bird records. If you have any queries
please contact the BirdTrack Organiser by email: birdtrack@bto.org
