bird recording in Scotland

The BirdTrack Partnership

The SOC is now a BirdTrack partner with the BTO, RSPB and BirdWatch Ireland.

BirdTrack is an exciting new web-based bird recording project that looks at migration movements and distributions of birds throughout Britain and Ireland. It provides facilities for observers to store and manage their own personal records as well as using these for the production of local bird reports, and to support species conservation at local, regional, national and even international scales.

The principle behind BirdTrack is that if you have been out birdwatching anywhere in Britain and Ireland, or merely watching birds in your garden, records of the birds you have seen (or indeed have not seen) can be useful data. Thus the scheme is year-round, and ongoing, and anyone with an interest in birds can contribute. Important results produced by BirdTrack include mapping migration timings and monitoring scarce birds. 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 SOC hopes that most birdwatchers in Scotland will soon adopt BirdTrack as their main bird recording and information sharing tool.

To find out more, or to register and get started, visit the BirdTrack website.

Questions & Answers

What is a Local Recorder?

The Local Recorder (or SOC or county bird recorder or simply bird recorder) is typically a volunteer who is responsible for collating all the individual records of birds that birdwatchers submit for his/her recording area (see What areas... below). The Local Recorder enters the records into some form of database, answers queries and acts as the point-of-contact between observers, biological records centres, and the various rarities committees. In some cases the recorder, along with a team of report editors, is also responsible for the production of a local annual bird report.

Who coordinates bird recording in Scotland?

The Local Recorders' Network in Scotland is coordinated by the SOC, often in close cooperation with the local SOC branch. The SOC currently employs Clive McKay as the Scottish Bird Records Coordinator. He helps to develop the recording network across the country.

What happens to the records, and what are they used for?

The Local Recorder's database is clearly a valuable archive of local bird information and has numerous uses. Foremost, the database is the main source of information for the published Local Bird Reports. In the past, these may have been manuscripts that are held in the Waterston Library, but now there is an almost complete network of published local bird reports in Scotland.

The database is also used to answer queries based on individual species or localities. Recent queries have involved planning and conservation issues and analysis of population trends.

The SOC is committed to sharing biodiversity data to aid conservation. This is achieved by making bird records available on the National Biodiversity Network Gateway. The NBN Gateway enables conservationists, planners, and developers to find out what biodiversity interests are present in a given area. NBN Gateway species maps based on the SOC's bird records are now available on the SOC website - click the map image on the left.

The SOC takes great care to ensure that the information you provide on rare or sensitive species is managed securely, and special procedures are in place to ensure that this information is only made available to those with a genuine need.

Through the BirdTrack partnership, records can now be managed on-line (with the caveats mentioned above still applying) which greatly increases the efficiency of entering, exchanging and using the records. Previously difficult areas such as giving grid references for record locations can now be done at the click of a button. On-line recording tools will doubtless make all of our lives easier with each passing year as the technology develops, and this is why the SOC is committed to the BirdTrack partnership.

What happened before the Local Recorders' Network?

The Local Recorders' Network was established by the SOC in 1968 to support the newly published Scottish Bird Report. Before that, significant Scottish records were collated nationally and published in the Scottish Naturalist (1871-1957) and then Scottish Birds (1958-1967). Scotland's bird observatories also have a long history of bird recording, and local bird clubs published records, but such clubs were scarce. Before 1968, the records were located according to Scotland's 'faunal regions' (essentially drainage basins) rather than the Vice-County system that was (and still is) used to map the distribution of other animals, invertebrates and plants.

What areas do the Local Recorders cover?

The Recording Areas have evolved over the years, but since 1968 they have been based on administrative boundaries that ideally should be plotted on current maps. The old counties formed the basis of the Recording Areas until 1985, when the SOC adopted the revised Region and District boundaries, but many of these have evolved further. Although these boundaries have not always remained unchanged, for consistency, they have been retained as the key to the current Recording Area boundaries.

Who can send in records?

The Local Recorders welcome records from all birdwatchers, whether they are amateur or professional, beginners or experienced, local or visitor. Don't be put off; all records are potentially valuable. Any records that you submit via BirdTrack can be downloaded by your local recorder at any time.

What sort of records should be sent in?

Local Recorders are interested in receiving many categories of bird sightings within their areas. For example:

• data on breeding birds, such as territory counts, Common Bird Census data, counts of seabird colonies and indications of breeding success
• regular counts throughout the year from your local patch, eg monthly peak wildfowl and wader counts
• early and late summer and winter migrants
• counts of seabird passage (preferably over timed periods and including commoner species)
• all records relating to influxes (e.g. Waxwing, Crossbill, Quail, Little Auk etc)
• all records of uncommon birds and rarities

In addition to the basic data, it is often of great interest to include general comments relating to some of the records (eg that is was a record count, the best/poor year for a particular species).

Bear in mind that over the years, the records that have proved most useful are those that allow comparison between years, that document the importance of local bird populations and that can potentially be used to reveal population changes.

Please send records to the Local Recorder even if they have previously been phoned into Birdline Scotland.

When should the records be sent in?

In order that the annual analysis of records can take place promptly, all records should be submitted by the end of January of the following year. Some Recorders also welcome periodic submission of records during the year in order to spread the load of data entry, but if you use BirdTrack, you can submit records any time you like - ensuring that you don't get a backlog of records.

What format should the submission take?

BirdTrack records are automatically formatted for you, and are forwarded to the Local Recorder in a standard format.

If submitting directly to the recorder, check the recorders page or a copy of the local bird report for advice. You may like to consider using the Excel spreadsheet method developed for Borders, but equally applicable to other areas (with some modification). Click here for more information.

Which species require supporting descriptions?

For most of us, the sight of an unusual or rare species is the spice of birdwatching, and there is nothing more exciting than discovering a rarity oneself. But in order to give an accurate account of the year's sightings in Local Bird Reports, all records of unusual species should be supported by written details of circumstances and observations sufficient to prove identification. All records published must stand the scrutiny not only of readers today but also of those who may refer to these reports in the future. With these aims, Scotland now has a three-tier system of adjudication on records - the British Birds Rarities Committee (BBRC) being responsible for British rarities, the Scottish Birds Records Committee (SBRC) for Scottish rare birds and local committees for lesser rarities and local rarities. Details of the species that each local records committee considers are listed under the Local Recorder/Bird Report page for each region. A suggested format for a rarities submission is also given.

Where should I send records of rarities?

The preferred route for submitting descriptions of rarities is to send them to the Local Recorder who will then forward them to the relevant Records Committee. Subsequent decisions are then returned along the same route.

Where should I send records of rare breeding species, including the less common raptors?

In the past there was potential for records of rare breeding birds to be lost as the records were often retained by the individual observers. Since its establishment in 1973 the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP) has became the recognised repository for all such records. The records are kept in confidence, but can be accessed by the sponsoring organisations for official use. Similarly, records of the less common raptors are now kept centrally in the archives of the local Raptor Study Groups.

The important issue is that these records are held somewhere and that they keep their necessary confidentiality. Records can be submitted direct to the body concerned, or channelled via the Local Recorder, if preferred. It should be noted that in the cases mentioned above, only summary data is normally fed back to the Local Recorder.

Should results of other surveys (eg WeBS, BTO or RSPB) be sent to the Recorder?

Local surveys are often organised by the Local Recorder or local SOC Branch, and hopefully the results will be deposited with the Recorder. However, the only feedback from national surveys is likely to be in the final published summary, unless there is a local arrangement with the organiser (e.g. the BTO Regional Rep or local WeBS organiser). You may decide therefore to send a copy of your own results of such surveys to the Local Recorder for the Scottish archive. Any records entered via BirdTrack will be automatically incorporated into the 2007-11 atlas.