Skip to main content

Science With a Team of Thousands: The British Trust for Ornithology

  • Chapter
Participating in the Knowledge Society

Abstract

There is a long tradition of natural history study in Britain (Allen 1976 and this book), with ornithology as one of its components. In Victorian times, much of the interest was manifested by the collection of specimens (as ‘stuffed birds’), equivalent in many ways to today’s ‘twitching’, in which people’s focus is on extending the list of species that they have seen. Enthusiasts began to produce county avifaunas (listed by Ballance 2000, 2002), which largely concentrated on describing the abundance and distribution of species in the county and the seasonal patterns brought about by migration.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  • Allen, D.E. (1976) The Naturalist in Britain, London: Allen Lane.

    Google Scholar 

  • Austin, G.E., Jackson, S.S.F. and Mellan, H.J. (2004) WeBS Alerts 2000/2001: Changes in Numbers of Wintering Waterbirds in the United Kingdom, Its Constituent Countries, Special Protection Areas (SPAs) and Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs), BTO Research Report 349, Thetford: BTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baillie, S.R. (2001) ‘The contribution of ringing to the conservation and management of bird population: A review’, Ardea 89: 167–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ballance, D.K. (2000) Birds in Counties, London: Imperial College Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Ballance, D.K. (2002) Birds in Counties, First Supplement, Falmouth: Isabelline Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Banks, A.N., Coombes, R.H. and Crick, H.Q.P. (2003) The Peregrine Falcon Breeding Population of the UK and Isle of Man in 2002, BTO Research Report 330, Thetford: BTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Besbeas, P., Freeman, S.N., and Morgan, B.J.T. and Catchpole, E.A. (2002) ‘Integrating mark-recapture-recovery and census data to estimate animal abundance and demographic parameters’, Biometrics 58, 3: 540–547.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Besbeas, P., Freeman, S.N., Morgan, B.J.T. (2005) ‘The potential of Integrated Population Modelling’, Australian and New Zealand Journal of Statistics 47, 1: 35–48.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bibby, C.J. (2003) ‘Fifty years of Bird Study’, Bird Study 50: 194–210.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bland, R.L., Tully, J. and Greenwood, J.J.D. (2004) ‘Birds breeding in British gardens: An underestimated population?’, Bird Study 51: 97–106.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brooks, S.P., King, R. and Morgan, B.J.T. (2004) ‘A Bayesian approach to combining animal abundance and demographic data’, Animal Biodiversity and Conservation 27, 1: 515–529.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, D.E. and Fuller, R.J. (1999) ‘Density-dependent habitat distribution in birds: Issues of scale, habitat definition and habitat availability’, Journal of Avian Biology 30: 427–36.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, D.E., Wilson, J.D. and Fuller, R.J. (1999) ‘A comparison of bird populations on organic and conventional farm systems in southern Britain’, Biological Conservation 88: 307–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, D.E. (2002) ‘Effects of agricultural intensification on birds: Evidence from monitoring data’, Aspects of Applied Biology: Birds in Agriculture 67: 1–10.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chamberlain, D.E., Fuller, R.J., Bunce, G.H., Duckworth, J.C. and Shrubb, M. (2000) ‘Changes in the abundance of farmland birds in relation to the timing of agricultural intensification in England and Wales’, J. Appl. Ecol. 37: 771–88.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clark, J.A., Robinson, R.A., Balmer, D.E., Blackburn, J.R., Griffin, B.M., Adams, S.Y., Collier, M.P. and Grantham, M.J. (2003) ‘Bird ringing in Britain and Ireland in 2002’, Ringing & Migration 21: 234–67.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Clarke, W.E. (1912) Studies in Bird Migration, London: Gurney & Jackson.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Crick, H.Q.P. and Sparks, T.H. (1999) ‘Climate change related to egg-laying trends’, Nature 399: 423–4.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crick, H.Q.P., Baillie, S.R. and Leech, D.I. (2003) ‘The UK Nest Record Scheme: Its value for science and conservation’, Bird Study 50: 254–70.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fewster, R.M., Buckland, S.T., Siriwardena, G.M., Baillie, S.R. and Wilson J.D. (2000) ‘Analysis of population trends for farmland birds using generalised additive models’, Ecology 81: 1970–84.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Freeman, S.N., Noble, D.G., Newson, S.E. and Baillie, S.R. (2003) Modelling Bird Population Changes using Data from the Common Birds Census and the Breeding Bird Survey, BTO Research Report 303, British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, R.J. (1982) Bird Habitats in Britain, Calton: T&AD Poyser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, R.J. (2000) ‘Relationship between recent changes in lowland British agriculture and farmland bird populations: An overview’, in Aebischer, N.J., Evans, A.D., Grice, P.V. and Vickery, J.A. (eds) Ecology and Conservation of Lowland Farmland Birds, Tring: BTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fuller, R.J., Gregory, R.D., Gibbons, D.W., Marchant, J.H., Wilson, J.D., Baillie, S.R. and Carter, S. (1995) ‘Population declines and range contractions among lowland farmland birds in Britain’, Conservation Biology, 1425–1441.

    Google Scholar 

  • Furness, R.W., Greenwood, J.J.D. and Jarvis, P.J. (1993) ‘Can birds be used to monitor the environment?’, in Furness, R.W. and Greenwood, J.J.D. (eds) Birds as Monitors of Environmental Change, London: Chapman and Hall.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Gaston, K.J. and Blackburn, T.M. (2000) Pattern and Process in Macroecology, Oxford: Blackwell Science.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Gibbons, D.W., Reid, J.B. and Chapman, R.A. (1993) The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland: 1988–1991, London: Poyser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, J.J.D. and Baillie, S.R. (1991) ‘Effects of density-dependence and weather on population changes of English passerines using a non-experimental paradigm’, Ibis 133: 121–33.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, J.J.D. (2000) ‘How BTO’s monitoring of birds contributes to conservation’, Schriftenreihe für Landschaftspflege und Naturschutz 62: 105–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, J.J.D and Carter, N. (2003) ‘Organisation eines nationalen Vogelmonitorings durch den British Trust for Ornithology — Erfahrungs-bericht aus Groβbritannien. (Organising a national bird monitoring by the BTO — Experiences from Britain)’, Berichte des Landesamtes für umweltschutz Sachsen-Anhalt. Sonderheft 1/2003: 14–26.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, J.J.D. (2003a) ‘Max Nicholson — the founder of the BTO’, BTO News 247: 6.

    Google Scholar 

  • Greenwood, J.J.D. (2003b) ‘The monitoring of British breeding birds: A success story for conservation science?’, The Science of the Total Environment 310: 221–30.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregory, R.D., Wilkinson N.I., Noble. D.G., Robinson, J.A., Brown, A.F., Hughes, J., Proctor, D.A., Gibbons, D.W. and Galbraith, C.A. (2002) ‘The population status of birds in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man: An analysis of conservation concern 2002–2007’, British Birds 95: 410–50.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, I.G., Cooper, J., Fuller, R.J. and Vickery, J.A. (2000a) ‘The relative abundance of birds on set-aside and neighbouring fields in summer’, J. Appl. Ecol. 37: 335–47.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Henderson, I.G., Vickery, J.A. and Fuller, R.J. (2000b) ‘Summer bird abundance and distribution on set-aside fields on intensive arable farms in England’, Ecography 23: 50–59.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hickling, Ronald (ed.) (1983) Enjoying Ornithology: A Celebration of Fifty Years of the British Trust for Ornithology 1933–1983, Calton: T&AD Poyser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lack, P.C. (1986) The Atlas of Wintering Birds in Britain and Ireland, Calton: T&AD Poyser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Main, I.G. (2002) ‘Seasonal movements of Fennoscandian Blackbirds Turdus merula’, Ringing & Migration 21: 65–74.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marchant, J.H., Freeman, S.N., Crick, H.Q.P. and Beaven, L.P. (2004) ‘The BTO Heronries Census of England and Wales 1928–2000: New indices and a comparison of analytical methods’, Ibis 146: 323–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marchant, J.H., Hudson, R., Carter, S.P. and Whittington, P. (1990) Population Trends in British Breeding Birds, Tring: BTO.

    Google Scholar 

  • Medawar, P. (1963) ‘Hypothesis and imagination’, Times Literary Supplement 25 October 1963 (reprinted in expanded form in Medawar, P. (1967) The Art of the Soluble, London: Methuen).

    Google Scholar 

  • More, A.G. (1865) ‘On the distribution of birds in Great Britain during the nesting season’, Ibis, New Series, 1: 1–27, 119–42, 425–58.

    Google Scholar 

  • Noble, D.G., Newson, S.E. and Joys, A.C. (2004) Investigation of Methods for Producing Joint CBC-BBS Trends, BTO Research Report 377, British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford.

    Google Scholar 

  • Paradis, E., Baillie, S.R., Sutherland, W.J. and Gregory, R.D. (1999) ‘Dispersal and spatial scale affect synchrony in spatial population dynamics’, Ecology Letters 2: 114–20.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pashby, B.S. (1985) John Cordeaux, Ornithologist, Spurn Bird Observatory, n. p.

    Google Scholar 

  • Peach, W.J., Buckland, S.T. and Baillie, S.R. (1996) ‘The use of constant effort mist-netting to measure between-year changes in the abundance and productivity of common passerines’, Bird Study 43: 142–56.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Peach, W.J., Baillie, S.R. and Balmer, D. (1998) ‘Long-term changes in the abundance of passerines in Britain and Ireland as measured by constant effort mist-netting’, Bird Study 45: 257–75.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sharrock, J.T.R. (1976) The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland, Berkhamsted: Poyser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siriwardena, G.M., Baillie, S.R., Crick, H.Q.P., Wilson, J.D. and Gates, S. (2000) ‘The demography of lowland farmland birds’, in Aebischer, N.J., Evans, A.D., Grice, P.V. and Vickery, J.A. (eds) Ecology and Conservation of Lowland Farmland Birds, Tring: British Ornithologists’ Union.

    Google Scholar 

  • Siriwardena, G.M. and Robinson, R.A. (2002) ‘Farmland birds: Demography and abundance’, Aspects of Applied Biology: Birds and Agriculture 67: 179–88.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vickery, J.A., Bradbury, R.B., Henderson, I.G., Eaton, M.A. and Grice, P.V. (2004) ‘The role of agri-evironment schemes and farm management practices in reversing the decline of farmland birds in England’, Biological Conservation 119: 19–39.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wallace D.I.M. (2004) Beguiled by Birds, Christopher Helm: London.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walters, M. (2003) A Concise History of Ornithology, London: A&C Black.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wernham, C., Toms, M., Marchant, J., Clark, J., Siriwardena, G. and Baillie, S. (2002) The Migration Atlas: Movements of the Birds of Britain and Ireland, London: T&AD Poyser.

    Google Scholar 

  • Witherby, H.F. and Pycraft, W.P. (1907) Editorial, British Birds 1: 1–3.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wood, J.D. (2003) Horace Alexander: 1889 to 1989. Birds and Binoculars, York: William Sessions Ltd.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors

Copyright information

© 2005 Jeremy J.D. Greenwood

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Greenwood, J.J.D. (2005). Science With a Team of Thousands: The British Trust for Ornithology. In: Participating in the Knowledge Society. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230523043_11

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics