Biggest Survey Of British Birds Underway

The biggest survey of birds ever carried out in Britain has been launched as part of a project to create an ornithological atlas.

More than 250 species will be surveyed by an estimated 50,000 volunteers who will spot, count and record all the birds they can find.

As part of the scheme volunteers will seek out as many birds as possible while walking around Britain’s countryside, or simply spy on birds in their gardens from the comfort of their lounges.

The survey is expected to provide enough information to allow conservationists to assess whether measure to improve barn owl numbers are working.

It is designed to enable researchers to plot the population location and concentration of each species of bird in Britain.

Information obtained from the survey will be used to create an atlas of bird populations, the first for 20 years and the most detailed.