Migration Zone Shapefiles | BTO - British Trust for Ornithology

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This page provides shapefiles for all of the species migration zone maps used in the SOSS-05 report on assessing the risk of offshore wind farm development to migratory birds designated as features of UK Special Protection Areas (and other Annex 1 species). If you are using the SOSS Migration Assessment Tool you should not need to use these files, unless you wish to update the migration zone for a particular species if new information has become available. However, you may wish to use these shapefiles if you are using an alternative assessment method, or for the purpose of creating any illustrations you may wish to include in reports.

There are options to download either a single large zip file containing shapefiles for all species, or to download individual files for each species or population. Please note that many species have more than one map (e.g. for breeding and non-breeding populations, or for different races or recognised geographical populations). Please ensure you download the shapefiles for the relevant population of interest, and bear in mind that you may need to consider more than one race or sub-population for some species (e.g. for non-breeding redshank you would need to consider all three races for which we have made shapefiles). It should be noted that migration zone boundaries that are very distant from the UK (e.g. in the mid-Atlantic) are often arbitrary, as the report focussed on where species might cross the seas around the UK, not their entire migration. Further guidance on these issues is given in the SOSS-05 report.

All species

All species (single LARGE zip file, 46 MB)

Swans

Bewick's Swan Cygnus columbianus bewickii (zip, 95 KB)

Whooper Swan Cygnus cygnus (zip, 357 KB)

Geese

Bean Goose Anser fabalis (zip, 222 KB)

Pink-footed Goose Anser brachyrhynchus (zip, 257 KB)

European White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons albifrons (zip, 66 KB)

Greenland White-fronted Goose Anser albifrons flavirostris (zip, 317 KB)

Icelandic Greylag Goose Anser anser (zip, 275 KB)

Greenland Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis (zip, 270 KB)

Svalbard Barnacle Goose Branta leucopsis (zip, 216 KB)

Dark-bellied Brent Goose Branta bernicla bernicla (zip, 79 KB)

Canadian Light-bellied Brent Goose Branta bernicla hrota (zip, 404 KB)

Svalbard Light-bellied Brent Goose Branta bernicla hrota (zip, 379 KB)

Ducks

Shelduck Tadorna tadorna (zip, 596 KB)

Wigeon Anas penelope (zip, 661 KB)

Gadwall Anas strepera (zip, 386 KB)

Teal Anas crecca (zip, 663 KB)

Mallard Anas platyrhynchos (zip, 624 KB)

Pintail Anas acuta (zip, 663 KB)

Shoveler Anas clypeata (zip, 487 KB)

Pochard Aythya ferina (zip, 487 KB)

Tufted Duck Aythya fuligula (zip, 662 KB)

Scaup Aythya marila (zip, 485 KB)

Eider Somateria mollissima (zip, 634 KB)

Long-tailed Duck Clangula hyemalis (zip, 609 KB)

Common Scoter Melanitta nigra (zip, 663 KB)

Velvet Scoter Melanitta fusca (zip, 391 KB)

Goldeneye Bucephala clangula (zip, 590 KB)

Red-breasted Merganser Mergus serrator (zip, 495 KB)

Goosander Mergus merganser (zip, 634 KB)

Divers

Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata - Breeding (zip, 460 KB)

Red-throated Diver Gavia stellata - Non-breeding (zip, 602 KB)

Shearwaters, petrels, Gannet & cormorants

Fulmar Fulmarus glacialis (zip, 997 KB)

Manx Shearwater Puffinus puffinus (zip, 689 KB)

Storm Petrel Hydrobates pelagicus (zip, 725 KB)

Leach's Petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa (zip, 663 KB)

Gannet Morus bassanus (zip, 724 KB)

Cormorant Phalacrocorax carbo (zip, 672 KB)

Shag Phalacrocorax aristotelis (zip, 441 KB)

Herons & egrets

Bittern Botaurus stellaris (zip, 183 KB)

Little Egret Egretta garzetta (zip, 84 KB)

Grebes

Great Crested Grebe Podiceps cristatus (zip, 298 KB)

Slavonian Grebe Podiceps auritus (zip, 663 KB)

Raptors

Honey-buzzard Pernis apivorus (zip, 56 KB)

Marsh Harrier Circus aeruginosus (zip, 90 KB)

Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus - Breeding (zip, 344 KB)

Hen Harrier Circus cyaneus - Non-breeding (zip, 327 KB)

Montagu's Harrier Circus pygargus (zip, 75 KB)

Osprey Pandion haliaetus (zip, 116 KB)

Merlin Falco columbarius (zip, 447 KB)

Corncrake & Coot

Corncrake Crex crex (zip, 415 KB)

Coot Fulica atra (zip, 119 KB)

Waders

Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus - Breeding (zip, 441 KB)

Oystercatcher Haematopus ostralegus - Non-breeding (zip, 630 KB)

Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta - Breeding (zip, 53 KB)

Avocet Recurvirostra avosetta - Non-breeding (zip, 67 KB)

Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus (zip, 84 KB)

Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula - Breeding (zip, 439 KB)

Ringed Plover Charadrius hiaticula - Non-breeding (zip, 650 KB)

Dotterel Charadrius morinellus (zip, 302 KB)

Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria - Breeding (zip, 441 KB)

Golden Plover Pluvialis apricaria - Non-breeding (zip, 471 KB)

Grey Plover Pluvialis squatarola (zip, 623 KB)

Lapwing Vanellus vanellus (zip, 623 KB)

Knot Calidris canutus (zip, 662 KB)

Sanderling Calidris alba (zip, 662 KB)

Purple Sandpiper Calidris maritima (zip, 499 KB)

Dunlin Calidris alpina - Breeding & Passage, races schinzii & arctica (zip, 660 KB)

Dunlin Calidris alpina - Wintering, race alpina (zip, 375 KB)

Ruff Philomachus pugnax (zip, 324 KB)

Snipe Gallinago gallinago (zip, 662 KB)

Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa - Breeding, race limosa (zip, 62 KB)

Black-tailed Godwit Limosa limosa - Non-breeding, race islandica (zip, 524 KB)

Bar-tailed Godwit Limosa lapponica (zip, 400 KB)

Whimbrel Numenius phaeopus (zip, 655 KB)

Curlew Numenius arquata - Breeding (zip, 440 KB)

Curlew Numenius arquata - Non-breeding (zip, 591 KB)

Greenshank Tringa nebularia (zip, 447 KB)

Wood Sandpiper Tringa glareola (zip, 191 KB)

Redshank Tringa totanus, race britannica (zip, 485 KB)

Redshank Tringa totanus, race robusta (zip, 524 KB)

Redshank Tringa totanus, race totanus (zip, 346 KB)

Turnstone Arenaria interpres (zip, 663 KB)

Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus (zip, 494 KB)

Skuas

Arctic Skua Stercorarius parasiticus (zip, 676 KB)

Great Skua Stercorarius skua (zip, 689 KB)

Gulls

Kittiwake Rissa tridactyla (zip, 680 KB)

Black-headed Gull Chroicocephalus ridibundus (zip, 460 KB)

Mediterranean Gull Larus melanocephalus (zip, 143 KB)

Common Gull Larus canus (zip, 384 KB)

Lesser Black-backed Gull Larus fuscus (zip, 524 KB)

Herring Gull Larus argentatus (zip, 506 KB)

Great Black-backed Gull Larus marinus (zip, 506 KB)

Terns

Little Tern Sternula albifrons (zip, 449 KB)

Black Tern Childonias niger (zip, 133 KB)

Sandwich Tern Sterna sandvicensis (zip, 371 KB)

Common Tern Sterna hirundo (zip, 491 KB)

Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii (zip, 319 KB)

Arctic Tern Sterna paradisaea (zip, 628 KB)

Auks

Guillemot Uria aalge (zip, 831 KB)

Razorbill Alca torda (zip, 831 KB)

Puffin Fratercula arctica (zip, 736 KB)

Owls, nightjar & passerines

Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus (zip, 640 KB)

Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus (zip, 250 KB)

Woodlark Lullula arborea (zip, 91 KB)

Dartford Warbler Sylvia undata (zip, 66 KB)

Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola (zip, 81 KB)

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