To round off this month’s EYA Wildlife theme, we are highlighting the collections and work of the British Trust for Ornithology’s archive.
What does BTO do?
The British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) is a charity which works to secure the future for birds and nature by means of science, monitoring and data. We are based in Thetford, Norfolk with country offices in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. BTO was founded in 1933 for the purposes of carrying out research and to form a “clearing-house and directive centre for all British bird-watchers who care to make use of it”. Our teams of professional staff and large dedicated networks of volunteer observers are committed to delivering much-needed evidence about birds, in order to make a positive impact for both birds and people. The material in the BTO Archives tells our story, which we hold alongside the work of prominent ornithologists and bird photographers.
With a little help from our friends
Citizen science is at the heart of everything BTO does, and to date we have run hundreds of projects coordinating the surveying efforts of our wonderful volunteers. One of our earliest surveys was the Woodcock Inquiry 1934–35, which provided information to map the distribution, migration and movements of this elusive species. The publication of the inquiry revealed an answer to the intriguing question widely reported in the national press at the time: do Woodcock carry their young between their legs in flight? (Spoiler – yes, occasionally they really do!).
Seeing the bigger picture
Some of our surveys are a small defined project focusing on a specific area or species, and carried out for a limited duration of time. At the other end of the scale, BTO has built up decades of robust data by undertaking monitoring on an annual basis. The longest-running survey is the Heronries Census in which participants have been making yearly counts of Grey Heron nests since 1928. However, standing at nearly 250,000 maps, the Common Birds Census (CBC) – which ran between 1962 and 2000 – is the largest set of data by volume in the BTO Archives. Participants made multiple visits each year to count the territories of breeding birds and then compared these data to the number recorded in the previous year. This way, the census revealed the significant changes taking place in UK bird populations.
Taking note
Whether it’s a visit list, year list or life list, keeping records has always been an important part of birdwatching. Today it’s possible to record sightings of birds electronically in the field through smartphone apps like BirdTrack. However, in earlier years, the default method of recording sightings was in notebooks and we have plenty of examples of these in the BTO Archives. However, not many observers have been as organised as the aptly-named Reverend Maurice Bird (1857–1924). He kept diaries for an astonishing 50 years, recording his bird and wildlife sightings as well as notes on varied subjects ranging from wildflowers to the weather. All of these were interspersed with newspaper cuttings and cross-referenced against two large ledgers of additional notes.
Through the lens
The invention of photography provided a new medium on which to create records, and bird photography became increasingly popular during the twentieth century. Emma Louisa Turner (1867–1940) was a pioneering bird photographer, ornithologist, author and lecturer. She was also the only woman to put her signature to the letter published in The Times on 1st July 1933 announcing the formation of the British Trust for Ornithology. In Norfolk in 1911 she took an extraordinary sequence of images showing a nestling Bittern. This was vitally important evidence for a secretive species that had last been recorded as breeding in the UK 25 years earlier.
Birds, Science and People
It may be a surprise that we don’t have many biological specimens in the archives. It’s not uncommon to find the odd feather carefully tucked into a diary or letter, but as the BTO’s work has always been driven by data this is also reflected in the archives. At the core of everything we do are three key areas – birds, science, and people – and the archives are no exception, recording the work we’ve done so far and continue to do with the efforts of the staff, volunteers, supporters, birdwatchers and photographers to increase our understanding of the UK’s wildlife.
Further information
Written by Lesley Hindley, BTO Archivist
Edited by Isabel Lauterjung, EYA Blog Coordinator
Find out more about the collections here.
