BTO has its headquarters in England, at Thetford in Norfolk, but we also have offices in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. Our extensive volunteer networks and long-term datasets enable us to report across a range of scales, and we also hold a unique collection of regional ornithological literature in our library.
Recognising that many of the UK's birds only visit our shores for part of the year, our work also extends beyond our shores, following migrant birds along their migration routes to stopover sites and wintering areas in other countries.
Our national offices
Individually, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland support very significant components of the avifauna of the British Isles and each nation has its own distinct mix of habitats and landscapes, with their associated bird communities. Many policy decisions have a strong country or regional focus, and our work reflects this, being directed through our four national offices.
England
Many policy decisions have a strong national focus, and our work in England reflects this.
Scotland
Scotland is special. Its birds, habitats, and environmental challenges differ from those in other parts of the UK.
Northern Ireland
We are particularly active in Northern Ireland: there are many ways for everyone to get involved.
Working across regions and habitats
BTO works to make sure that its monitoring projects cover the whole of the UK, and offer maximum engagement and satisfaction to birdwatchers anywhere in our islands. Our core monitoring programmes, such as the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey, are structured to enable us to provide vital information at national and regional levels, and for each of the broad habitat types that make up our landscape.
Whether it is an atlas map showing range change across Britain and Ireland, a regional index of population increase, or an assessment of the bird community within a particular site, we are able to draw on our extensive datasets to provide the relevant evidence across a range of spatial scales.
We are able to do all this because of the amazing support that we receive from our Regional Network and the volunteers who help to coordinate our surveys and monitoring schemes regionally.
Working internationally
BTO knowledge and expertise is contributing to projects across the globe, reflecting our strong partnership approach and the regard in which our work is held. If we are to explain the reasons for the declines evident in the long-term monitoring data that we hold for summer migrants or winter visitors, then we need to understand the challenges that these birds face elsewhere. Similarly, we can gain a better understanding of the changing fortunes of resident species by looking at what is happening to populations of the same species in neighbouring countries and regions.
We typically do this through partnerships with other organisations, often pooling our data to draw out broader changes that might, for example, stem from climate change or habitat loss.
A repository of ornithological knowledge
BTO's Chris Mead Library holds one of the finest collections of books, journals and reports on birds and the science of ornithology anywhere in the world. It is is particularly renowned for its comprehensive sets of county and local materials, including bird reports from local groups and bird observatories.
This repository of ornithological knowledge sits alongside the many long-running data-sets that we hold, together delivering vital information on the changing fortunes of Britain and Ireland's bird populations.
