European Bird Census Council

European Bird Census Council

@ebcc.info

Bringing together ornithologists & birders across Europe to monitor and research bird populations to help their conservation. #EBBA2 #PECBMS #EuroBirdPortal

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European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

New research using PECBMS data on birds and eBMS data on butterflies highlights a stark reality: current conservation policies are unlikely to reverse declines in common bird and butterfly species under future climate and land-use scenarios. More: shorturl.at/lKpE8

European Bird Census Council reposted

BTO | British Trust for Ornithology
@btobirds.bsky.social

1/ Nature is in peril. Drastic declines and specialist species struggling is what the Wild Bird Indicators, using BTO data & published by Defra, show. Here’s what we know ⬇️ The All Bird Species Index shows 19% declines in the UK since 1970. This comprises 132 species. 📉 #Ornithology

European Bird Census Council
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This is the result of an incredible community effort: 750 million bird records since 2010,76 million records in 2026 alone, collaboration of 52 ornithological organisations from 41 different countries,more than 200,000 volunteer birdwatchers across Europe. The work was supported by EU LIFEProgramme

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

Every piece of data collected has a human story behind it. During the Campaign to boost the collection of complete lists in SE Europe, our Greek partner, @BirdLife Greece, shared one such story.

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European Bird Census Council
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Their day continued with visits to Artemida Lagoon, Schinias Wetland, and Ramountas agricultural area, where they observed both common and rare breeders such as the Orphean Warbler. They also visited urban streams where migrant Squacco herons were resting, with sunset at Hymettus Mountain.

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

Every piece of data collected has a human story behind it. During the Campaign to boost the collection of complete lists in SE Europe, our Greek partner, @BirdLife Greece, shared one such story.

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

Pavlos started birdwatching at age 9 during COVID lockdown, when walks with his father near their home were highlights of their day. During the May challenge, Pavlos and his father visited six localities within their region. At Spata Fields, they spotted a Cattle Egret, a lifer for Pavlos.

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

A recent study led by Carmen D. Soria, also using European Breeding Bird Atlas data, reveals that species richness and most distributions are consistently clustered in space across regions and time periods, confirming that biodiversity tends to form "patches." More:

ebcc.infoSpatial autocorrelation of species diversity and distributions in time and across spatial scales | EBCCThe results of a new study show that spatial structure is a persistent and fundamental feature of biodiversity, but it depends strongly on scale, does not change uniformly over time, and varies…
European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

Key findings: Strongest agreement for common, easily detected species. Random site selection improved habitat representation and reduced bias. Trend agreement improved with overlap time, levelling off after ~5 years. A 5-year overlap may be enough for a smooth transition.

European Bird Census Council reposted

BirdTrack
@birdtrack.bsky.social

Could it be a Quail year? We've seen a big increase in reports of this elusive migrant gamebird in the last two weeks. Reports don't usually peak until late June, so it will be interesting to see whether the influx continues into the summer #ukbirding

European Bird Census Council
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A study led by Wilson and colleagues at the @British Trust for Ornithology compared acoustic recording data (using the automated classifier BirdNET) with Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) counts. Volunteers deployed acoustic recorders within 28 of their 1-km BBS squares in Scotland. shorturl.at/1CZxn

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

Acoustic data had a varying degree of correlation of call rates with BBS counts, depending on species, number of years, and spatial scale (e.g. BirdNet call rate for Skylarks was positively correlated with 5-year mean BBS count; for other species, correlations were improved by filtering)

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

Limitations of acoustic recordings include variable species detection accuracy (for 34 species with 50 or more calls detected manually, the proportion of BirdNET detections ranged widely from 0 to 73%). There is still the need for validation and calibration against human surveys.

European Bird Census Council
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On the 2nd weekend in May, we organised a region-wide, complete list data-collection weekend across 13 countries in SE Europe. Since the start of the year, our partnership has collected approx 38,500 complete lists, surpassing records from previous years for the same time period! shorturl.at/XJvPN

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European Bird Census Council
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Two classifiers (BirdNET, GBVC) performed best but didn't achieve near-perfect accuracy. Despite rapid improvements, manual validation is crucial. The customised model had performance gains, showing the value of tailored training data.

European Bird Census Council
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PAM and AI classifiers can be powerful complementary tools, but so far, not a replacement for traditional surveys. The most effective approach would be a hybrid system that combines model predictions with expert validation (“human-in-the-loop”) to improve accuracy over time.

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

Audio data and point counts overlapped significantly (48%), especially for songbirds in closed habitats identified by vocalisations. More species were recorded during point counts (visual). Some species were more in audio,likely omitted as fly-overs/outside radius or missed when focusing on other sp

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

@sovonvogels.bsky.social published State of the Birds in the Netherlands 2025. Bird species associated with forest, marshland/freshwater habitats are stable/increasing, while those linked to farmland/open landscapes continue to decline. file:///D:/Downloads/State-of-Birds-in-the-Netherlands-2025.pdf

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

@sovonvogels.bsky.social published State of the Birds in the Netherlands 2025. Bird species associated with forest, marshland/freshwater habitats are stable/increasing, while those linked to farmland/open landscapes continue to decline. file:///D:/Downloads/State-of-Birds-in-the-Netherlands-2025.pdf

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

Although the overall indicator for marshland and freshwater birds is increasing, at a finer scale, differences among species exist: increases are mainly among birds of reeds and shrubs, while decreases are mainly among ducks. Bird species breeding at the Wadden Sea are also generally declining.

European Bird Census Council
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A particularly interesting case is that of the Barnacle Goose, which illustrates how flexible and dynamic migration strategies have become, with more birds breeding now closer to their wintering grounds, often in the Netherlands itself, where they can be found year-round.

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

The role of acoustic monitoring has advanced tremendously over the last 15 years and could transform bird monitoring. As with any new technology, it brings exciting new opportunities but also a range of challenges to be addressed in bird monitoring.

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European Bird Census Council
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Responses from 32 European countries, indicate a strong interest in acoustic monitoring—most saw added value as a complementary tool for atlases and inventory surveys, for presence/absence data on species in remote areas, and for nocturnal, rare or hard-to-detect species.

European Bird Census Council
@ebcc.info

The role of acoustic monitoring has advanced tremendously over the last 15 years and could transform bird monitoring. As with any new technology, it brings exciting new opportunities but also a range of challenges to be addressed in bird monitoring.