In the 1930’s Max Nicholson recognised the potential of co-operative birdwatching to inform conservation, and in 1933 he and others founded the British Trust for Ornithology, originally in Oxford. Early surveys of Rooks and Herons paved the way for the huge variety of projects now underway, but it was the first Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain & Ireland in 1968–72 that set the standard for what was to come.

Having spent some years based in Hertfordshire, the BTO now has its home at a beautifully converted Nunnery in Thetford, Norfolk. We also have offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We have undertaken our fourth complete stock-take of Britain and Ireland’s birds, with the publishing of Bird Atlas 2007-11.

A huge amount has happened in the ninety-year lifetime of the BTO. Whilst the life expectancy of a man has increased from 53 to 78 and that for a woman from 60 to 81, much of our bird life has fared rather less well. From our role in the discovery of DDT’s impact on raptor populations, via the reactions to Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring and on to more recent concerns about biodiversity loss and climate change, our members and volunteers have helped to shed light on the issues facing Britain’s birds and the habitats we share with them.

Our history and the work that we have accomplished is held and documented in BTO Archives, alongside the many hundreds of thousands of records and survey results. These observations and data are as important now as when they were first collected.

Some highlights from our history