Once you have logged in to GBW Online you'll be presented with the Data Home Page, which hosts a series of options: are:

View/Edit my details: Update your personal details and select your user preferences.

Enter count: Enter your weekly observations.

View/Edit weekly counts: Look back on previous weeks’ counts and correct errors.

View all my records: Explore your data - compare your sightings by weeks and years.

Enter/View garden details: Tell us about your garden when you first login.

My other gardens: Record simple information about your garden.

Renew Membership: A quick link to the renewal page.

Contact GBW Organiser: If you have any queries or comments about GBW.

You will also see a summary of your observations (once you have submitted some) in the form of your personal sunburst. This shows the reporting rate of the communities of common birds and other wildlife recorded in your garden. Click on the labelled slices to open up the community within each category, or click on the centre circle to return to the top level. Click on the left and right arrows to move between the different species groups you can record in Garden BirdWatch.

To start entering your observations click on Enter Count.

Select the appropriate date for your week’s count. Each Garden BirdWatch week starts on a Sunday. You will only be able to enter counts once the week has ended. For example, the earliest you could enter a count for the current week would be the following Sunday.

If you select a date that is in future, or for which you have already entered observations, a warning message is displayed. Check that you have the right week and try again. Remember, you cannot enter counts for a given week until that week is finished.

Enter the birds you have seen, either using the tick box to denote that a species was present, or enter a count of the maximum number of individuals seen at any one time within your garden recording area. You will find listed the species most commonly encountered in gardens nationally.

If you cannot find the species you have seen listed, as it is less commonly seen in gardens, you can still enter these in the boxes below. Begin typing the name to select from the options available.

Then tell us if you looked for other wildlife in your garden by selecting either ‘Yes’, ‘No’ or ‘I didn’t look’ for each group. If the answer is ‘Yes’, click on the relevant drop-down(s) to provide details. If you don’t want to record other wildlife or particular groups, you can avoid answering this question each time by changing your default answer in User Preferences.

All the species lists are maintained by BTO, and if you find that the species you wish to enter is not available, please let us know and we will determine whether it can be recorded or not. Please note, we do not record every species, as some are difficult to identify or are recorded by other organisations. For example, we only record one species of moth (Hummingbird Hawk-moth).

Please tell us if you have provided any food or water in your garden and if so, what. You do not have to put any food out to take part in Garden BirdWatch.

Please tell us if you have seen any diseased or dead birds or other wildlife during the week. If you do, please consider taking the time to record more detail about these observations where prompted. These will be automatically submitted for you to the Garden Wildlife Health project website.

Garden Wildlife Health (GWH) is a collaborative project between the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), BTO, Froglife and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) which aims to monitor the health of, and identify disease threats to, British wildlife.

Once you have entered all the week’s details, you can add any notes in the comments box. This is not routinely reviewed and is for your use only (making this a bit like an online notebook). Then click ‘Submit Count’. This will upload everything to the database. Please note, it will only submit your count if all bars for garden wildlife, health and food are GREEN or GREY.

Our software will check your records, highlighting any counts that are unusual (because of quantity, location or time of year). We do this to help you spot typing errors. For example, if you enter 11 Green Woodpeckers when you only meant to enter one, the system will report back that ‘11’ is a rather high count for this species, and will provide the opportunity for you to make a correction. If you are happy that the figure you entered is correct, even if flagged by the system, then you can disregard the message and accept the figure. 

You will then see a summary screen. If you notice any errors click on View/Edit this count to make corrections. Otherwise, you can either enter more counts or return to the GBW Data Home page.

From the GBW Data Home page click on View/Edit my details. User Preferences will be visible. Here you can choose how you want your species lists presented. For the order species are listed, choose either alphabetically or taxonomically. For the direction species are listed, choose either horizontal or vertical. If you are usually using a tablet or mobile phone to enter counts, you may find it more useful to have the list direction set to vertical.

You can also decide which other wildlife groups you do or don’t want to regularly look for. You can change these
default settings at any time.

Why do I have to let you know whether I record other wildlife? 

It's important for us to know if you are looking out for other wildlife in your garden. Recording other wildlife is optional, so if you don't record any butterflies (for example) we wouldn't know if you were choosing not to record them, or if you didn't see any. Therefore if you tell us that you are looking out for butterflies, but you don't submit any, we know that this counts as 'zero'.  To make this easier, you are able to set your default preferences by clicking EDIT MY DETAILS, which is just below your GBW number on the right-hand side of the screen. 

How often should I enter my counts?

We would like you to enter your counts regularly, ideally weekly. However, it doesn't matter if you don't make a list every week, and it's also ok if you don't submit your data every week

Why am I getting a warning message when I submit my count?

The warning message is just to ensure that no records were ticked or entered in error. It will highlight any species seen either in an abnormally large number, a species that isn't regularly recorded in gardens in a certain area, or if a species was seen "out of season". If you are certain your records are correct, please ignore this and proceed with submitting your count. 

How can I update my email address?

You can do this by clicking on the MY DETAILS button on your GBW Data Home Page. Simply add your new email address in the box provided and click on the button to make the change. If it does not look as if it has been updated, click on the page refresh button on your web browser.

Why do I sometimes get asked for my Username and Password and not at other times?

If, when you first logged in, you ticked the 'remember my login on this machine' box, you will have enabled a small bit of code (called a 'cookie') to hold your login details. Each time you access the system, it checks for this cookie and, if present, it will take you straight in. If you did not set up this option, or if you have cleared out your cookies, then you will be asked to login. The cookie only lasts for 12 months.

What are cookies?

Cookies are small pieces of text that are stored on your computer that allow the BTO to recognise who you are. They are only used to store your BTO username and password. This facility, if enabled on your computer, makes it easier for you to access the surveys as they do not have to login while moving between different surveys, nor should you have to login again if returning to the site after some time.

Why do I need to register with BTO Surveys?

Anyone who wishes to take part in any of the BTO Online surveys must register for a specific Username and Password. The registration process is a one off (you should not have to repeat it!) and asks only a few details. You cannot access any of the surveys without registering. Having your own username and password gives you access to your own records.

Your site does not work well using some browsers

We have developed the website so it can be used by as many browsers as possible. We would appreciate if you do experience problems, that you could contact us with details of what exactly happens and we will do our best to help you.

I've made a mistake when entering my data online. How can I edit it?

GBW Online has a correction facility that allows you to correct mistakes on records entered within the last few weeks.  From the GBW Data Home Page, click on: VIEW/ EDIT WEEKLY COUNTS in the YOUR OPTIONS box on the right of the page, to bring up the week that you wish to correct. You can select the week that you want from the calendar of ticks that comes up.  If it is recent enough, you will find that the correction links appear below the table of observations.  There is also an option that allows you to delete a whole week, so that you can start again if you wish.

Why is the Species List no longer in Alphabetical Order?

Species will either be listed in Alphabetical or Taxonomic order. However, the order can be changed in your account settings. To do this, click on: VIEW/ EDIT ACCOUNT DETAILS on the top right hand side of the GBW homepage. Here, you will also be ale to remove certain Taxa from your weekly GBW count, or change the layout of the screen tabbing from Horizontal to Vertical. We hope adjusting these settings can make things easier for you. 

Why does the Sunburst Diagram not show all the species of birds I have recorded in my garden?

The Sunburst Diagram is the large circular diagram that you see when you first log in to Garden BirdWatch online (assuming you have entered some submissions). Using statistics from our Garden BirdWatch data, the sunburst will only show the top 40 species of birds and other wildlife that are most commonly recorded by Garden BirdWatchers, rather than all of the species recorded by that user. We have to restrict the number of species included on the diagram to avoid it becoming overcrowded.

If you would like to explore your own Garden BirdWatch data, the easiest way to do so is by clicking on the: View All My Records option on the right hand side of the Garden BirdWatch Survey Home screen.