| Abbreviation | BTO |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1932 [1] |
| Legal status | Non-profit company |
| Purpose | Ornithology in the UK |
| Headquarters | The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, IP24 2PU |
Region served | UK |
| Website | www |
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is an organisation founded in 1932 for the study of birds in the British Isles. The Prince of Wales has been patron since October 2020.
In 1931 Max Nicholson wrote:
In the United States, Hungary, Holland and elsewhere a clearing-house for research is provided by the state: in this country such a solution would be uncongenial, and we must look for some alternative centre of national scope not imposed from above but built up from below. An experiment on these lines has been undertaken at Oxford since the founding of the Oxford Bird Census in 1927 [...]. The scheme now has a full-time director, Mr W.B.Alexander. [...] It is intended to put this undertaking on a permanent footing and to build it up as a clearing-house for bird-watching results in this country.
This led to a meeting at the British Museum (Natural History) in February 1932, which in turn led to the foundation of an organisation to develop the Oxford scheme. The name British Trust for Ornithology was used from May 1933 and an appeal for funds was published in The Times on 1 July. [a] [2] Max Nicholson was the first treasurer, Bernard Tucker the secretary. Harry Witherby was an early benefactor and vice-chair.
Much has been discovered about birds by watching and counting them, but such methods rarely allow birds to be identified as individuals. This is essential if we are to learn about how long they live and when and where they move, questions that are vital for bird conservation. Bird ringing (placing a lightweight, uniquely numbered, metal ring around a bird's leg) provides a reliable and harmless method of identifying birds as individuals.
Each ring also has an address so that anyone finding a ringed bird can help by reporting where and when it was found and what happened to it. Some ringing projects also use colour rings to allow individual birds to be identified without being caught.
Birds have been ringed in Britain and Ireland for nearly a hundred years and it still reveals new facts about migration routes and wintering areas. The primary focus of the BTO's ringing schemes is now the monitoring of bird populations, to provide information on how many young birds leave the nest and survive to become adults, as well as how many adults survive the stresses of breeding, migration and severe weather. Changes in survival rates and other aspects of birds' biology can indicate the causes of population changes.
The BTO runs two specialized projects to collect this information. The Constant Effort Sites (CES) scheme provides information on population size, breeding success and survival of bird species living in scrub and wetland habitats. Ringers work at over 130 CES scheme sites each year. The Retrapping Adults for Survival (RAS) project gathers survival data for a wide range of species, particularly those of current conservation concern.
Ringing revealed that declines in the number of Sedge Warblers breeding in Britain and Ireland was linked to lower levels of rainfall in their African wintering quarters; whilst the recent dramatic decline in the numbers of Song Thrushes was found to relate to a reduction in the survival rate of young birds. This information should aid identification of the environmental factors responsible for the decline.
The BTO is a member of the European Union for Bird Ringing (EURING), and hosts the EURING Databank. [3] [4]
In 1938 the BTO contributed funds to the new Edward Grey Institute of Field Ornithology.
In 1947, the institute became part of a new department of Zoological Field Studies at the University of Oxford, and the BTO again concentrated on a programme of volunteer-based surveys.
In December 1962, at the behest of Tony Norris, the BTO purchased Beech Grove, a large Victorian house in Tring, Hertfordshire, relocating there from Oxford, along with their Ringing Office, which had been at the British Museum.
In April 1991, the BTO moved to The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk, a large property lying between the A134 and the River Little Ouse, which had been donated to them. Parts of the medieval Benedictine Nunnery of St George can still be seen on this site.
The BTO also runs its only bird reserve, Nunnery Lakes Reserve, on this site. The reserve lies between the River Thet and the River Little Ouse, extending upstream from The Nunnery, along the banks of the Little Ouse, and incorporates several flooded gravel pits. [5]
In the early 2000s, a new library was created there, dedicated to the memory of Chris Mead. Professor Jeremy Greenwood PhD, who had been Director since 1988, retired in September 2007. The current chief executive officer is Dr Juliet Vickery, as of 2020. [6]
The BTO carries out research into the lives of birds, chiefly by conducting population and breeding surveys and by bird ringing, largely carried out by a large number of volunteers. Its Garden Birdwatch survey, for example, allows large numbers of birdwatchers to participate, by making a weekly count of the birds they see in their gardens.
The BTO publishes a number of journals:
In September 1967, inspired by on-going work on the innovative Atlas of Breeding Birds of the West Midlands, produced by the West Midland Bird Club, and in partnership with the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (now BirdWatch Ireland), work began on the first Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland. 3,862 10 km squares were surveyed and the atlas was published in 1976.
The New Atlas (1993) updated and refined this huge survey, again with the help of IWC and the Scottish Ornithologists Club. A Winter Atlas and a Historical Atlas have also been published. The groundbreaking Migration Atlas presents the results of almost 100 years of bird ringing. As with all BTO studies, the vast majority of the fieldwork was undertaken by volunteers.
The Bird Atlas 2007–11, published November 2013, [7] combines breeding and winter surveys across the entire UK and Ireland, involving the BTO, Birdwatch Ireland, and the Scottish Ornithologist's Club, in order to produce a new atlas. Fieldwork began in winter 2007, and was due to continue until the end of 2011.
The trust awards the Bernard Tucker Medal for services to ornithology, named in memory of Bernard Tucker, the first secretary, and the Dilys Breese Medal [8] in honour of Dilys Breese [9] and several Marsh Awards for Ornithology. [10]
BirdTrack is an online citizen science website, operated by the BTO on behalf of a partnership of the BTO, the RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and the Welsh Ornithological Society (Welsh : Cymdeithas Adaryddol Cymru). [11] [12]
The Witherby Memorial Lecture is an annual lecture organised by the BTO since 1968.
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HRH Duke of Edinburgh: 1980s? –19 October 2020
HRH The Prince of Wales: 19 October 2020 –Present
Birdwatching, or birding, is the observing of birds, either as a recreational activity or as a form of citizen science. A birdwatcher may observe by using their naked eye, by using a visual enhancement device such as binoculars or a telescope, by listening for bird sounds, watching public webcams, or by viewing smart bird feeder cameras.
The western house martin, sometimes called the common house martin, northern house martin or, particularly in Europe, just house martin, is a migratory passerine bird of the swallow family which breeds in Europe, north Africa and across the Palearctic; and winters in sub-Saharan Africa and tropical Asia. It feeds on insects which are caught in flight, and it migrates to climates where flying insects are plentiful. It has a blue head and upperparts, white rump and pure white underparts, and is found in both open country and near human habitation. It is similar in appearance to the two other martin species of the genus Delichon, which are both endemic to eastern and southern Asia. It has two accepted subspecies.
Edward Max Nicholson was a pioneering environmentalist, ornithologist and internationalist, and a founder of the World Wildlife Fund.
The Eurasian woodcock is a medium-small wading bird found in temperate and subarctic Eurasia. It has cryptic camouflage to suit its woodland habitat, with reddish-brown upperparts and buff-coloured underparts. Its eyes are set far back on its head to give it 360-degree vision and it probes in the ground for food with its long, sensitive bill, making it vulnerable to cold weather when the ground remains frozen.
Harry Forbes Witherby, MBE, FZS, MBOU was a noted British ornithologist, author, publisher and founding editor of the magazine British Birds.
Christopher John Mead was a popular British ornithologist, author and broadcaster, and an influential member of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO).
The hawfinch is a passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae. It is the only species placed in the genus Coccothraustes. Its closest living relatives are the Chinese grosbeak and Japanese grosbeak of East Asia, the evening grosbeak of North America, and hooded grosbeak of Central America.
BirdWatch Ireland (BWI) is a voluntary conservation organisation and registered charity devoted to the conservation and protection of wild birds and their habitats in Ireland. It was formerly known as the Irish Wildbird Conservancy (IWC). Irish Wildbird Conservancy was founded in 1968, among others by Major Robert (Robin) Ruttledge, an Irish ornithologist who became its first president.
Percy Roycroft Lowe was an English surgeon and ornithologist.
Jeremy John Denis Greenwood CBE is a British ornithologist and was Director of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) from 1988 until he retired in September 2007.
Dr Malcolm Alexander Ogilvie is a British ornithologist and freelance natural history author and consultant. One of his areas of expertise is wildfowl.
Francis Charles Robert Jourdain M.A., F.Z.S., M.B.O.U., known as Rev. F. C. R. Jourdain, was a notable British amateur ornithologist and oologist. He was primarily known for his extensive research into the breeding biology of the birds of the Palaearctic region. He had interests in the food of British birds and their geographical distribution and strongly encouraged detailed and accurate record keeping in local ornithology. Known for his temper, he came be known by the nickname Pastor Pugnax. He was a founder of the British Oological Association, which changed its name after his death to the Jourdain Society in his memory.
The Catalan Ornithological Institute is a not-for-profit association, established in 1975 to aid the study of birds in Catalonia, with the name of Grup Català d'Anellament. The association specialises in the development and coordination of large-scale monitoring schemes requiring the contribution of many ornithologists. The association runs courses for a wide range of practical ornithological activities, including ringing.
Professor David Norman is a British Chartered Physicist and ornithologist, he has lived in Cheshire since 1978.
The Dilys Breese Medal is a medal awarded by the British Trust for Ornithology to recognise communicators who help to deliver ornithological science to new audiences. It is named in memory of film maker Dilys Breese, who died in 2007, and was inaugurated in 2009, funded by a bequest from Breese. The medal features a design by Robert Gillmor, showing a robin in front of a TV screen.
The Sussex Ornithological Society (SOS) is a British registered charity dedicated to the study, recording, and conservation of wild birds and their habitats in the English historic county of Sussex. It was founded in 1962 and is one of the largest county bird clubs in Great Britain with a membership of 1988 as at the end of financial year in December 2014.
Emma Louisa Turner or E L Turner was an English ornithologist and pioneering bird photographer. Turner took up photography at age 34, after meeting the wildlife photographer Richard Kearton. She joined the Royal Photographic Society (RPS) in 1901, and by 1904 she had started to give talks illustrated with her own photographic slides; by 1908, when aged 41, she was established as a professional lecturer.
The five Marsh Awards for Ornithology are among over 40 Marsh Awards issued in the United Kingdom by the Marsh Charitable Trust and the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), in the field of ornithology.
Sarah Wanless is a British animal ecologist. She is an expert on seabirds; she is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and is Honorary Professor at the Universities of Glasgow and Aberdeen.
The European Union for Bird Ringing (EURING) is the co-ordinating organisation for European bird ringing schemes.
BTO five-letter code (P4567) (see uses )| International | |
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