Wildlife - Bird Surveys
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- Created by: Becky_Berry
- Created on: 14-03-21 18:02
Bird Populations
- birds can be grouped into a number of populations on whether they breed in Britain and on where they over-winter
- affects birds present at any given time of year, their behaviour and the methods used to survey them
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Resident Species
- e.g., blue ****, tawny owls, wrens, nuthatches, linnets
- adults particularly males, defend territory through the winter, though some birds may move southwards (e.g., to the south coast) in the winter before returning in spring
- some resident birds such as the robin
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Summer Visitors
- E.g., barn swallows, warblers and flycatchers
- Summer visitors which breed in the UK but migrate southwards to over-winter in southern Europe or Africa
- Generally insect eaters
- Arrive in the UK between March and May and depart between July and October. The first brood juveniles are the first to leave.
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Winter Visitors
- Winter visitors breed in Northern and Eastern Europe but migrate to the UK and spend the winter here.
- Examples include many waders and wildfowl as well as raptors such as the hen harrier and short-eared owl, and flocking species such as redwing and fieldfare, brambling, lesser redpoll
- Numbers of some resident birds, such as the starling, blackbird and chaffinch are swelled by visitors from mainland Europe.
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Passage Migrants
- Passage migrants are birds which pass through the UK in spring and autumn, migrating between breeding areas North and East of the UK and over-wintering areas further south
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Vagrant and Accidentals
- Arrive in the UK occasionally arrive in the uk by accident
- Cause lots of excitement for bird watchers
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Global Warming Impact
- Global warming is having an effect on bird populations in the UK
- Some species such as the blackcap, which were traditionally summer visitors have started overwintering here
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Bird Survey Methods
- Birds are one of the easiest groups to survey because they are relatively easy to see and they are highly vocal.
- Flocking/colonial species tend to be clumped in their distribution and can be surveyed by simple counting.
- Territorial species tend to be evenly distributed through their habitat and are surveyed by territory mapping, line transects or point counts.
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Bird Survey Methods: Counts of Colonies
- Useful for species that nest, roost or migrate in numbers
- Literally counting individuals
- May birds nest in colonies
- Some nest on cliffs, on the ground and others in trees
- Breeding is synchronised so that all the breeding birds can be counted at the same time
- Leks
- Some birds show lekking behaviour (black grouse, ruff and capercaillies)
- Roosts
- Roost communally during the night or during periods when their feeding grounds are inaccessible
- Wildfowl and wader counts
- The Wildfowl and Wetlands Trust organises counts on the middle Sunday of the month at selected sites throughout the UK
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Territory Mapping
- Marking boundaries of their territories with song
- Territory mapping is used to determine how many territories of each species there are in a given study area
- Large-scale detailed maps are first prepared of the area then a number of thorough vists are made during which all evidence of birds is plotted on visit maps.
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Line Transects
- Used to survey birds of open habitats such as moorland, downland, or the open sea.
- The surveyor walks (or sails) along the chosen route, recording the birds seen on either side.
- Ideally the route should be random rather than following any linear features such as hedge or stream which might affect the species seen.
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Point Counts
- A point count is a bird count carried out from a fixed position.
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Bird-ringing Scheme
- 900,000 birds ringed in Britain
- Each ring will have a serial number that can be uploaded to the database.
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Garden Birdwatch
- Found urban birds get up later than rural birds.
- House sparrows have declined.
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