Taking part
To participate in BirdTrack you need to do the following:
- Go to the BTO website and sign-up for BirdTrack or download the BirdTrack mobile app from where you usually download your apps from and sign up via the app. If you have taken part in any other online survey organised by the BTO then please use your existing username and password.
- If using the Mobile app, once you have logged in, press New list.
- Choose your location, either from a suggested popular place (recommended) or long press on the map where best represents the location covered by your birdwatching.
- The app will automatically record the date and start time (you can edit if needed) and the weather conditions. You can also add optional details about your trip, such as the count type i.e. a sea-watch or a roost count.
- Add the species that you see or hear, you can include counts and extra details such as breeding evidence or plumage details.
- When you have finished, mark if it is a casual list, so your trip highlights, or if it is a complete list of every bird you could identify by sight or sound.
- You can then submit and upload your record.
- If you are using the BirdTrack web app.
- Go birdwatching and note all the species that you see.
- Then visit the BirdTrack website, press on the yellow Go to data entry button and log in.
- Select Add records from the Your options box on the left-hand side
- Select at a New Place and either enter the location of your chosen site(s) or select from a popular site (recommended if there is one for the location you have visited).
- Enter the date and time of your visit.
- Mark if it is a casual list of your highlights or a complete list of everything you saw and heard.
- You can include extra details such as the weather conditions or count type.
- Record the species you noted as present, again there is the option to include counts and extra details such as breeding evidence.
- Submit your records.
- Abide by the BTO Code of Conduct.
We hope that you will have great fun participating in BirdTrack and that you will return to the app or website frequently to enter more data and to find out what's happening in your area and around the country.
All these results will be updated every night throughout the year. In addition to viewing national and regional summaries you will be able to view all of your own information and to compare it with the regional figures.
Although BirdTrack is not a structured survey, the BTO's health and safety information for volunteer fieldworkers contains relevant advice.
Important note about auto-ID tools
We recognise the growing popularity of auto-ID tools that use audio or image inputs to provide species identification, but we currently ask volunteers not to solely rely on these tools when submitting data to us.
- Please read our full statement on the use of auto-id tools for more detail and clarity.
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