PECBMS 2021 update

On 6th December we published the 2021 updates of the indices and indicators based on a 40-years long timespan. We ran a thorough data revision from April 2020 till October 2021 and made many tools and data improvements, so we are happy to announce improved supranational species indices and indicators. Furthermore, for the first time, Croatia and Flanders have joined PECBMS. Hence, in 2021, the indices and trends for 170 common European species have been based on the data from 29 countries, and include data from all three regions of Belgium. You are welcome to check all the news in the last update and download the indices and indicators in excel tables to use them in your research.

The 2022 EBCC Conference in Lucerne: programme available

Despite the uncertainties regarding the pandemic, the organisation of the EBCC conference in April 2022 progresses, and we invite you to register for the conference. Please note the deadline for early-bird registration is 31 December 2021. The Local organising committee is fully aware that the current situation may create some reluctance to register. However, together with the EBCC board, we will do our best to find a solution for all participants (including appropriate reimbursement if the conference moves online).

The Scientific Programme Committee has received many high-quality abstracts for oral presentations and had to choose. As a result, the provisional programme, covering a wide range of interesting topics, is now available for download.

Bird Atlas of Hungary published

In 2014, BirdLife Hungary (MME) started the program to ensure data gathering for the EBBA2. The aim also was to collect data for preparing the first Hungarian Bird Atlas. As a result, the Bird Atlas of Hungary, which summarises all available knowledge about the distribution, population dynamics and conservation status of 420 bird species that occurred naturally in Hungary until 2019, was published at the end of September 2021. More than a thousand observers conducted the fieldwork during 2014–2018. In total, 15,808 surveys with complete lists were gained, covering 6,756 squares. More than 60 authors wrote the species chapters with 1,700 maps and graphs, giving the complete picture of the state of Hungary’s wild birds in a book spanning 800 pages, including an English summary. The full atlas is accessible online.

Catalan Breeding Bird Atlas published

On 2 December, the third Catalan Breeding Bird Atlas was published, a project promoted by the Catalan Ornithological Institute (ICO). The atlas takes a detailed picture of all the bird species nesting in Catalonia. Inside the 639-page book you can find the distribution, population estimate, and population trend for the last forty years for each species. The atlas reveals that 233 bird species breed in Catalonia, represented by an estimate of 8 to 12 million pairs. In order to obtain the data, 1,275 ornithologists voluntarily counted birds in the field between 2015 and 2018. In addition, the work involved researchers from the European Bird Census Council, CREAF and the Forest Science and Technology Centre of Catalonia (CTFC), among others. Read more on the atlas.

Czech Breeding Bird Atlas published

The fourth edition of the Breeding Bird Atlas of Czechia was published in December. The book contains information on over 200 bird species proven or likely to breed in the Czech Republic. For each species, population trends and probability of occurrence are given, and a comparison of the current and the past observations done during the mapping of 2001–2003 as well as previous findings from 1973–77 and 1985–89. The text supplements a modelled map of the detection probability and graphs of probable range and altitude for selected species. An English summary accompanies each species chapter.

The fifth UK Birds of Conservation Concern

The UK’s fifth Birds of Conservation Concern assessment was published by a consortium of UK conservation organisations on 1 December in the journal British Birds and can be read, open access, here, as well as a summary document here. The review uses a wide range of monitoring data, mostly from volunteer-based schemes such as the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey and the Rare Breeding Birds Panel, to assess all of the UK’s regularly-occurring bird species and place each on either the Red, Amber or Green list (in order of descending conservation concern). The length of the Red List has increased to 70 species, 29% of those assessed, with new additions including Common Swift Apus apus, House Martin Delichon urbicum, Greenfinch Chloris chloris, Leach’s Storm-petrel Hydrobates leucorhous and Bewick’s Swan Cygnus columbianus. There is some good news, though, with the success of reintroduction projects meaning that White-tailed Eagle Haliaeetus albicilla has moved off the Red list to Amber.

Natural sounds and bird songs play a key role in building and maintaining our connection with nature. But a new study published on 2 November in Nature Communications reveals that the sounds of spring are changing, with dawn choruses across North America and Europe becoming quieter and less varied. An international team of researchers (many of them representing the PECBMS network) led by the University of East Anglia developed a new technique, combining world-leading citizen science bird monitoring data with recordings of individual species in the wild, to reconstruct the soundscapes of more than 200,000 sites over the last 25 years. Annual bird count data from North American Breeding Bird Survey and PECBMS sites were combined with recordings for over 1000 species from Xeno Canto, an online database of bird calls and songs, to reconstruct historical soundscapes. As a result, the study found a widespread decline in the acoustic diversity and intensity of natural soundscapes, driven by changes in the composition of bird communities.

We have lost around 600 million birds in the EU since 1980

A recent study published in Ecology and Evolution shows that one out of every six birds has been lost over nearly 40 years. The study was compiled using data from the European Bird Census Council’s PECBMS and mandatory reporting by the EU Members States to the European Commission under the EU Birds Directive. Scientists comprising a team from RSPB, BirdLife International and the Czech Society for Ornithology analysed data for 378 out of 445 bird species native to countries in the EU. A significant proportion of these losses result from massive decreases in the more common and abundant bird species. Among these, the largest drop in population is the house sparrow with 247 million fewer individuals. Very large declines in a small number of common species account for a large proportion of these losses, and the same is true of the increases. When comparing populations by habitat, the highest total losses were seen amongst farmland and grassland birds, which are believed to be caused due to changes in farming practices driven by the policy.

EBBA2 project team from Prague awarded

One of the teams coordinating the EBBA2 project was based at the Czech Society for Ornithology (CSO). Petr Voříšek, Marina Kipson, Martin Kupka, Jana Škorpilová and Alena Klvaňová were responsible for network coordination, communication, project management support and artwork coordination. On 6 November the team was awarded by the CSO Award for a considerable contribution to the coordination of EBBA2, a milestone in European ornithology. Congratulations!

Finnish Atlas planned

Finland will start the fourth breeding bird atlas in 2022, and the project will last till 2025. The atlas will be coordinated by the Finnish Museum of Natural History and BirdLife Finland. The earlier Finnish atlases have been conducted in 1974–1979, 1986–1989 and 2006–2010. The website of the new atlas will also include regularly updated information on the survey results and the coverage. The observations for the atlas will be submitted through the Finnish Museum of Natural History website and Tiira (BirdLife Finland).