Bird Atlas 2007–11 Appeal

This appeal helped us conduct one of our most ambitious projects to date, the Bird Atlas 2007–11. This stock-take of our birds has revealed fascinating changes in the status of our birds and will shape the direction of conservation action over the coming decades.

Please note that this appeal is now closed to donations. If you’d like to support our work, you can donate to a current appeal >

The Bird Atlas 2007–11 project

Bird Atlas 2007–11 was a partnership project run by BTO, BirdWatch Ireland and the Scottish Ornithologists’ Club, aiming to map the distribution and abundance of all bird species in Britain and Ireland. It was funded in part by the Bird Atlas 2007-11 Appeal, which ran from 2007 to 2013, as well as many other individuals, organisations and government bodies. It was a major collaborative community project, involving around 40,000 volunteer surveyors throughout Britain and Ireland. 

The Bird Atlas book was published in November 2013, containing the most complete and comprehensive overview of bird distribution and change in Britain and Ireland alongside more than 1,300 maps which describe the patterns of distribution, abundance and change for nearly 300 bird species. 

The species accounts and chapters bring together the latest scientific findings to explain these patterns and highlight the major issues facing our changing bird faunas.

Unpacking the Atlas

Atlas organisers, authors and volunteers share their thoughts on this important book.

The A to Z of Atlasing

Watch a talk about the highlights of the Bird Atlas 2007–11, by Principal Data Scientist Simon Gillings

Bird Atlas 2007–11 for research and conservation

Taken together, the complete maps of the Atlas and the bird population trends generated by our long-term bird monitoring schemes provide powerful tools of the trade for scientists and conservationists:

  • The status assessments and indices of change published in the book provide clear indications of the species of most pressing conservation concern, and how these differ between Britain and Ireland. 
  • Summary data also formed part of the UK’s and the Republic of Ireland’s respective obligations to report on the status of bird species to the European Commission (Article 12 of the Birds Directive). 
  • Data on the abundance of breeding waders are helping to improve the targeting of agri-environment schemes in England, Wales and the Republic of Ireland for rapidly disappearing species such as Redshank and Curlew.
  • Maps of distribution and abundance for the Turtle Dove are helping to pinpoint the remaining strongholds for this declining species to both understand why they are declining and work with farmers to slow the decline.
  • Provisional data on the distribution of breeding Corn Bunting in central and eastern England helped to identify farms with important densities of this Red-listed species. 

Publications

Balmer, D.E., Gillings, S., Caffrey, B.J., Swann, R.L., Downie, I.S. & Fuller, R.J. 2013. Bird Atlas 2007–11: the breeding and wintering birds of Britain and Ireland. BTO Books, Thetford

Gillings, S., Balmer, D. E., Caffrey, B. J., Downie, I. S., Gibbons, D. W., Lack, P. C., Reid, J. B., R. Sharrock, J. T., Swann, R. L., & Fuller, R. J. 2019. Breeding and wintering bird distributions in Britain and Ireland from citizen science bird atlases. Global Ecology and Biogeography 28(7): 866-874

    Thank you

    We are tremendously grateful to everyone who supported Bird Atlas 2007–11 through this appeal.

    We would like to extend particular thanks to Joy and Ted Danter for their major legacy, the 238 Species Sponsors, and BTO Corporate Members including Anglian Water, BirdGuides, Ernest Charles, Essex & Suffolk Water, Gardman, Northumbrian Water, Opticron, Porzana, Syngenta and Thames Water.

    We would also like to thank all the following Charitable Trusts who supported Bird Atlas 2007–11:

    • The Aberbrothock Charitable Trust
    • AEB Charitable Trust
    • A S Butler Charitable Trust
    • Barbour Trust
    • Charles & Caroline Barratt Charitable Trust
    • Christopher H.R. Reeves Charitable Trust
    • Dennis Curry Charitable Trust
    • D'Oyly Carte Charitable Trust
    • EG & MA Bousfield Charitable Trust
    • EJ Stephenson (Deceased) Charitable Trust
    • The Emily Weircroft Charitable Trust
    • Esmée Fairbairn Foundation
    • Garfield Weston Foundation
    • Gatliff Trust
    • Gordon Fraser Charitable Trust
    • Grocers’ Charity
    • Harris Charitable Trust
    • H B Allen Charitable Trust
    • Hobart Charitable Trust
    • J & JR Wilson Charitable Trust
    • John Ellerman Foundation
    • John Swire
    • Lady Hind Trust
    • The Lever Trust
    • Mercers’ Charitable Trust
    • Mr & Mrs Philip Rackham Charitable Trust
    • The Norman Family Trust
    • The Pilkington Trust
    • Rowan Bentall Charity Trust
    • Sandra Charitable Trust
    • ShareGift (The Orr Mackintosh Foundation)
    • Shears Charitable Trust
    • The Slater Foundation
    • Tay Charitable Trust
    • Uplands Charitable Trust
    • The Westminster Foundation

    BirdWatch Ireland also greatly acknowledges the financial support of the National Parks & Wildlife Service of the Department of the Environment, Heritage & Local Government; the Heritage Council; the Environment & Heritage Service – Northern Ireland; and the Environmental Protection Agency.

    Support more work like this

    The Bird Atlas 2007–11 Appeal is now closed, but you can still support us. Donating to one of our current appeals will help fund our vital work to secure a better future for birds, for nature and for people.  

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