Dawn Balmer

Head of Surveys

Dawn Balmer

Contact

The Surveys Team at the BTO runs most of its large-scale bird surveys, including the Wetland Bird Survey, Breeding Bird Survey, BirdTrack, Waterways Breeding Bird Survey and Heronries Census. In addition, Dawn also maintains and coordinates the Regional Network, BTO's network of volunteer Regional Representatives. She also has responsibility for Regional Conferences.

Interests & Responsibilities

The Surveys Team organises volunteer-based surveys to collect the data that are core to the BTO’s work on bird populations, including population estimates, trends and distribution. Dawn has a long-term interest in migration and movements of birds and population dynamics and was the Atlas Coordinator for Bird Atlas 2007–11.  Dawn is Secretary of the European Bird Census Council and Chair of the Rare Breeding Birds Panel.

Other Information

Director of British Birds and Editorial Board Member of British Birds, Trustee of the Eric Hosking Charitable Trust and writes regularly for British Wildlife. Member of the British Birds Rarities Committee and former member of the British Ornithologists' Union Records Committee.

Dawn is a keen birdwatcher, ringer, general naturalist and enjoys photography.

The Bird Atlas 2007–11 team were recipients of the 2014 RSPB Medal.

Qualifications

BSc (Hons) Environmental Science, Polytechnic South West, Plymouth 1988–91.

Recent BTO Publications

Massimino, D., Baillie, S.R., Balmer, D.E., Bashford, R.I., Gregory, R.D., Harris, S.J., Heywood, J.J.N., Kelly, L.A., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., Raven, M.J., Risely, K., Woodcock, P., Wotton, S.R. & Gillings, S. 2024. The Breeding Bird Survey of the United Kingdom. Global Ecology and Biogeography 34 View at journal website (DOI: 10.1111/geb.13943)
Harris, S.J., Baker, H., Balmer, D.E., Bolton, M., Burton, N.H.K., Caulfield, E., Clarke, J.A.E., Dunn, T.E., Evans, T.J., Hereward, H.R.F., Humphreys, E.M., Money, S. and O’Hanlon, N.J. 2024. Seabird Population Trends and Causes of Change: 1986–2023, the annual report of the Seabird Monitoring Programme. British Trust for Ornithology ISBN: 2976-8950
O’Hanlon, N.J., van Bemmelen, R.S.A., Conway, G.J., Thaxter, C.B., Aiton, H., Aiton, D., Balmer, D.E., Calladine, J.R., Harris, S.J. & Humphreys, E.M. 2024. New insights into the migration and wintering areas of Scottish-breeding Arctic Skuas. British Birds 117 : 488-497 Link to publication
Stanbury, A.J., Burns, F., Aebischer, N.J., Baker, H., Balmer, D., Brown, A.F., Dunn, T., Lindley, P., Murphy, M., Noble, D.G., Owens, R. & Quinn, L. 2024. The status of the UK’s breeding seabirds: an addendum to the fifth Birds of Conservation Concern in the United Kingdom, Channel Islands and Isle of Man and second IUCN Red List assessment of extinction risk for Great Britain. British Birds 117 : 471-487 Link to publication
Heywood, J.J.N., Massimino, D., Balmer, D.E., Kelly, L., Marion, S., Noble, D.G., Pearce-Higgins, J.W., White, D.M., Woodcock, P., Wotton, S. and Gillings, S. 2024. The Breeding Bird Survey 2023.
Woodward, I.D., Calbrade, N.A., Birtles, G.A., Feather, A., Peck, K., Wotton, S.R., Shaw, J.M., Balmer, D.E. & Frost, T.M. 2024. Waterbirds in the UK 2022/23.
View all BTO publications for this author

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