FROM BRITISH TRUST FOR ORNITHOLOGY — JANUARY NEWSLETTER

The BTO logo – Birds Science People View this email in your web browser Smew, by Sarah Kelman / BTO Dear John, Welcome to the Member Edition of the first BTO newsletter of 2026! The final week of January has been wet and windy for many. Despite this, we have received reports of singing thrushes, Great Tits and Dunnocks, as well as some early nesting attempts made by Robins, Woodpigeons and Collared Doves. Thank you to everyone who has been out surveying for us over recent weeks, whether that's for WeBS, the International Swan Census, the Winter Bird Survey or our other schemes. Every record counts and is making a difference for birds. In this month's newsletter you can learn how Heronries Census data are helping Little Egrets, and why Spotted Flycatchers are being lost from some areas but not others. Find out how you can also help us by classifying camera trap data or completing a questionnaire, and how you can help yourself by taking advantage of our next set of training courses. The Call We wanted to start the first newsletter of the year by sharing a reflection from one of your fellow members. Angus writes about his love for the wild geese that fly over his home in Carnoustie, Scotland, sounding a call that echoes across the ages. Read more We love hearing from our members about their experiences in nature and their thoughts on our work. Email membershipteam@bto.org to share your story. How many Little Egrets? Volunteers in the BTO Heronries Census are making a key contribution to the monitoring of our growing Little Egret population, as a new paper in British Birds reveals. Some 80% of Little Egret records reaching the Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP) come through the Census. The study demonstrates that the Heronries Census – coupled with additional RBBP data – can deliver robust estimates of the number of nesting attempts made by these relatively recent colonists. The paper includes an estimate of 2,236 Little Egret nests for the 2022 breeding season. We now have a robust tool through which we can monitor future changes in the Little Egret population. Find out more Little Egret, by Edmund Fellowes / BTO Help needed BTO Garden BirdWatch is working with the MammalWeb project, using camera traps to monitor garden wildlife. The project has accumulated a huge number of images, and we need your help to classify these. As an added incentive, beyond knowing you are helping important research, there's a chance to win a camera trap too. Every sequence you classify in the 'BTO GBW NE pilot' project during the competition period (from now to the end of February 2026) will count as an entry into the prize draw and one winner will be selected at random after the competition closes. Camera trap image of two Muntjac, by Mike Toms / BTO Enhancing our engagement work We'll shortly be sending out a questionnaire to members and volunteers. The results will help us to enhance our engagement with both new and existing audiences, as we seek to give as many people as possible the opportunity to interact with our work and the natural world. We believe this benefits both people and birds. If you are one of those to receive the questionnaire, we would be really grateful if you could spare the time to fill it in – it is anonymous and entirely voluntary. Latest News Understanding loss The Spotted Flycatcher is the most rapidly declining of our summer migrants, its population falling by 93% between 1967 and 2023. New research, using data from the 1988–1991 and 2008–2011 Bird Atlases, has revealed important detail on the link between landscape features (such as habitat change) and the loss of Spotted Flycatcher populations. Spotted Flycatcher, by Liz Cutting / BTO Arctic Skua status New research estimates a minimum Arctic Skua population of 185,131–395,315 pairs across Alaska, Canada, Greenland, and Europe combined, but highlights a data gap for Asian Russia. Given this uncertainty, the species should perhaps be reclassified as 'Data Deficient' rather than 'Least Concern' by the IUCN Red List at a global scale. Arctic Skua, by Edmund Fellowes / BTO Featured training courses & events Bird Sound ID in Early Spring (common woodland birds) As we head into early spring the UK soundscape begins to erupt with a fantastic array of bird songs and calls. As wonderful as this is, it can prove a daunting identification task. However, it can provide you with an excellent opportunity to learn how to describe, visualise and memorise the sounds you are hearing as the season progresses. Our 'Bird Sound ID in Early Spring' course provides an opportunity to learn in a structured way, across two weekly online sessions and some supported self-study exercises. The first session explores the differences between songs and calls, and includes an interactive workshop to introduce and embed our ‘Describe–Visualise–Memorise’ approach to recognising and remembering bird sounds. The second session moves on to reviewing the self-study activities and some of the concepts covered in the first session, and we will help you hone your auditory ID skills by listening to some additional species. The course will be run by BTO staff Nick Moran, Jenny Donelan and Rob Jaques, all experienced birders, surveyors and trainers, and there will be opportunities to ask them questions during the live sessions. Please note that Bird Sound ID in Early Spring includes largely the same sound-related content as the Bird ID course that we ran during 2021–2024. COST: The programme of two weekly online sessions and supported self-study exercises costs £24. There's an option to add a donation if you wish to further support the work of BTO and are able to do so. If the cost is prohibitive, there is also a pricing option for those on lower incomes. Tuesdays 17 & 24 March at 7 p.m. Wednesdays 18 & 25 March at 10 a.m. Wednesdays 18 & 25 March at 7 p.m. Thank you for your continued support! Happy birding, The BTO Membership Team DONATE VOLUNTEER British Trust for Ornithology, The Nunnery, Thetford, Norfolk IP24 2PU. www.bto.org | info@bto.org. Registered Charity no. 216652 (England & Wales) SC039193 (Scotland). Company Limited by Guarantee no. 357284 (England and Wales) Unsubscribe from the BTO e-newsletter