The BTO Atlas

British Trust for Ornithology

Please Note: The last date for submitting records was January 2012. Please don't submit any more, but this page is published for INFORMATION ONLY

How everyone can contribute

As mentioned in recent Bulletins, we need all of you to report any birds you see, anytime, anywhere in our area to help compile a complete list of birds for the BTO Bird Atlas. With the help of birdwatchers all over Britain, the BTO will be able to document the distribution and relative abundance of all bird species breeding and wintering in Britain & Ireland. To do this we will be collecting all your records however many or few, over the next four years and send them on to the BTO (and to the Surrey Bird Club and LNHS who will be compiling local County Atlases!). Choose a local site and report from here regularly or just report your garden birds.

It will be easy for everyone in the bird club to take part by simply noting all your bird sightings on the Society's recording forms and sending the records in to our Recorder by email to: Tony Quinn or by handing them in at Indoor Meetings.

There are only two items of information needed in addition to those we usually request. One is to enter the tetrad letter of the site you recorded from and the other is to note any territorial or breeding behaviour. Read on to see how to do both of these things....

What is a tetrad anyway?

The Society's recording area is the Ordnance Survey 10 km square known as TQ16 (plus a 2km strip along the north and east edges). Each 10km square across Britain is made up of twenty-five smaller 2km squares known as 'tetrads'. Each tetrad is given a letter from A-Z (only '0' is missing). Look at the tetrad map and if you live in our area, you will be able to locate your road and find out the tetrad letter it belongs in! Enter this letter on the club's report form in the 'precise location' column when reporting garden birds and similarly for any other site you record from. For example, the club's meeting place at Ewell Road, Surbiton is in tetrad 'Y.'

Breeding season records - how to use the BTO codes

For breeding season records, the BTO have issued a set of code letters to represent types of breeding behaviour. This saves a lot of writing! The codes are given below. When recording birds in the breeding season, check through the list and enter the code letter which applies to your sighting. We have added a special column marked 'breed status' on our report form (see front and back of the club's form) for you to enter this information. For example, for a singing Robin, enter the code 'S' and for a Robin nest-building, enter 'B.'

If you see several birds of the same species in one visit and are using the columns on the front of the report form to record these, enter the highest level of breeding behaviour observed in the 'breed status! column. Eg if you see five robins, three singing, one nest-building and one carrying food, enter 'FF' (= carrying food) as the highest breed category observed for the species on that visit.

If you are not sure of the tetrad or breeding code, we still want your records! Just enter the species name, date, number of birds seen and location and give your report to Tony! We ask everyone to take part in this. By contributing your sightings, you will help to make the Bird Atlas project a nationwide success!!

Categories of Breeding Evidence

Select a code that best describes what you have seen. Categories further down the list infer a higher level of evidence of breeding. Except M and U, all should relate to individuals in potentially suitable nesting habitat: Non-breeder

F	Flying over
M	Migrant
U	SUmmering non-breeder

Possible breeder

H	Observed in suitable nesting Habitat
S	Singing Male

Probable breeder

P	Pair in suitable nesting habitat
T	Permanent Territory (defended over at least 1 week)
D	Courtship and Display
N	Visiting probable Nest site
A	Agitated behaviour
I	Brood patch of Incubating bird (from bird in hand)
B	Nest Building or excavating nest-hole

Confirmed breeder

DD	Distraction-Display or injury feigning
UN	Used Nest or eggshells found from this season
FL	Recently FLedged young or downy young
ON	Adults entering or leaving nest-site in circumstances indicating Occupied Nest
FF	Adult carrying Faecal sac or Food for young
NE	Nest containing Eggs
NY	Nest with Young seen or heard