Making the most of a wildlife garden

Watching your garden birds? Make your records count!

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WHY MONITOR GARDEN BIRDS?

By sending your garden bird records to the British Trust for Ornithology, you can make a difference to its understanding of how birds use our gardens, and how changes in our cities and countryside are affecting birds. The BTO Garden Birdwatch Survey has been running since 1995 and has charted the decline of House Sparrow, has linked garden feeding with the increase in wintering Blackcaps in the UK over the last 30 years, and has helped us understand how birds choose between natural foods and garden bird feeders. Monitoring and recording your garden wildlife also gives you an opportunity to watch more closely, and understand the changes and differences across seasons, as well as interesting behaviours which you may, of course, have previously overlooked.

A MESSAGE FROM THE BTO...

We are asking people to join our community of more than 11,000 Garden Birdwatchers, and send in simple weekly lists of the birds in your garden. We are interested in all garden types, from small to large, from urban to rural. By recording on a weekly basis we can see patterns of garden use and how it changes depending on the time of year. For example, we see a clear dip in Blackbird sightings in the late summer and early autumn. This is a time when they are most secretive, while going through moult, and there is also a lot of available food in the wider countryside. The time that you spend doing the survey is up to you, and it can fit into your schedule. You might wish to record all the species you see throughout the week, or you might wish to dedicate a set time every Saturday morning. Whatever time you can give is fine, but all we ask is that you are consistent from week to week. Many Garden Birdwatchers also want to record other wildlife and there is an option to record butterflies, dragonflies, bumblebees and mammals. You can send us your counts on paper forms, or on our simple online system.

GET INVOLVED

You can get involved by signing up online at bto.org/gbw or by contacting us via email (gbw@bto.org), or phone (01842 750050). The administration is supported by participants through a yearly subscription of £17, and for this you receive a free 'Garden Birds and other wildlife' book which provides a fantastic handbook for a garden birdwatcher, and quarterly magazines, updating you on the progress and results of the survey.