On this page

BTO guides, atlases and other books. A number of the guides have been published more than once. Not all editions are listed.

The publications on this page are listed chronologically with the most recent at the top.

BTO pages on the site

Breeding Bird Survey

Conservation advice notes

Research notes

Research Reports
- 692 to 600
- 599 to 500
- 499 to 400
- 399 to 300
- 299 to 200
- 199 to 100
- 99 to 1

BTO web site

Flight Lines: Tracking the Wonders of Bird Migration

Mike Toms

2017

"The BTO’s Flight Lines project, a joint initiative with the Society of Wildlife Artists (SWLA), highlights through art and narrative the challenges that migrant birds face and brings to a wider audience the research and conservation work that is being done to help them. By pairing artists, storytellers and photojournalists with the researchers and volunteers studying our summer migrants, the book tells the stories of our migrant birds, and the work being done to secure a future for them. Includes artwork by SWLA member artists Carry Akroyd, Kim Atkinson, Federico Gemma, Richard Johnson, Szabolcs Kokay, Harriet Mead, Bruce Pearson, Greg Poole, Dafila Scott, Jane Smith, John Threlfall, Esther Tyson, Matt Underwood, Michael Warren, Darren Woodhead and others."

Identification of European Non-Passerines

Jeff Baker

BTO

2016

"This major guide improves on the original by now comprehensively covering 155 species, with descriptions of ageing and sexing methods, moult, biometrics and racial differences. It complements Lars Svensson's Identification Guide to European Passerines, and is an invaluable reference for Bird Ringers, keen birders and feather enthusiasts, alike."

Guests of Summer: A House Martin Love Story

Theunis Piersma

British Trust for Ornithology

2016

"Guests of Summer tells the story of the House Martins of a small Dutch village, and the historic and contemporary connectedness of lives, both of birds and people. The journey begins from the comfort of a chair in Piersma's garden. Intrigued by the martins nesting on his house and the other swallow-like birds in the village, he begins to explore what it is like to be a House Martin. In doing this, Piersma weaves a tapestry that connects Anglo-Saxon migrations, Shakespeare's writings, political upheaval in the Congo, climate change and the big and frightening downsides of ongoing agricultural intensification. He does this using our aerial insectivores, the martins, swallows and swifts, as the most inspiring of canaries in the global coal mine."

Garden Birds and Other Wildlife

Kate Risely and Clare Simm

2016

"This book brings together the latest information on garden birds, much of it drawn from the British Trust for Ornithology's network of Garden BirdWatchers, to help you identify the birds visiting your garden and to understand their behaviour and needs. Contains: Detailed guide to 61 garden bird species, including key facts on their ecology and behaviour; Handy population maps and at a glance charts showing likelihood of seeing the species, month by month; Statistics and behavioural information drawing on 80 years of BTO knowledge; Identification guide to other garden wildlife, covering mammals, reptiles, amphibians, butterflies, dragonflies and bumblebees; Sections on bird behaviour and ecology and wildlife friendly gardening are also included."

Collins BTO Guide to British Birds

Paul Sterry, Paul Stancliffe

2015

"This unique new identification guide features all of the birds that have occurred five or more times in Britain and Ireland, including all species that breed regularly in the region, plus those that winter here, or occur as common passage migrants. The book has been written and illustrated as much with the beginner in mind as the experienced birdwatcher. Designed to be used in the field, the text and photographs describe and illustrate the key features needed to identify a species with confidence, and to separate it from similar, or ‘confusion’, species. As a general rule, the species accounts follow the taxonomic running order provided by the British Ornithologist’s Union (BOU). But for the benefit of the reader, in some instances the running order has been juggled subtly so that potentially confusing species are placed side by side. Throughout the book there are special pages that describe the key features needed for separating different families, and groups of birds that share the same habitat. More than 1,200 photographs are featured and many are seen here for the first time. They have been chosen carefully to show not only important identification features but also to give clues to the usual habitat favoured by the bird, and its typical posture. Annotations highlight key identification features that are discussed in the text. Song and call are useful aids to identification, and reference is made to vocalisation for each species. The average size of each bird is included; in most species this is the length, measured from the tip of the bill to the tip of the tail, but in birds that are seen most frequently in flight (such as raptors), the given measurement is wingspan. Relative abundance maps are shown for every species. The darker shading shows where a species is most abundant, and the lighter shades where it is less so. These are based on the very latest information contained within the BTO’s Bird Atlas 2007–11."

Collins BTO Guide to Rare British Birds

Paul Sterry, Paul Stancliffe

2015

"This book is the companion volume to the Collins BTO Guide to British Birds. It covers all the rare and scarce birds that have occurred in Britain and Ireland four times or more, as of February 2015. ‘The Rarest of the Rare’ section lists all the species that have occurred fewer than four times; taken in combination, this means that every species of wild bird that has ever occurred in Britain is mentioned. Species descriptions comprise the bulk of the book, and the text and photographs describe and illustrate the key features needed to identify these birds with confidence. Confusion species are included, as are vocalisation details for species whose identification it aids. The photographs have been chosen carefully to show key features that are described in the accompanying text; they also give clues to the usual habitat favoured by the bird and its typical posture. Many of the photographs are seen here for the first time. ‘ID Key Feature’ pages provide a quick guide to a group of species or families; they describe the structural and behavioural features that an observer should concentrate on initially when they come across an unfamiliar bird. Where relevant, these feature pages also highlight identification pitfalls."

Bird Atlas 2007-11: The Breeding and Wintering Birds of Britain and Ireland

Dawn Balmer, Simon Gillings, Brian Caffrey, Bob Swann, Iain Downie, Rob Fuller

2013

"Bird Atlas 2007-2011 is the definitive statement on breeding and winter bird distributions in Britain and Ireland. It builds on previous atlases (1968-1972 Breeding Atlas, 1981-1984 Winter Atlas, 1988-1991 Breeding Atlas) to show how the fortunes of the birds of Britain and Ireland have changed over the last 40 years. Bird Atlas 2007-2011 presents over 1300 detailed maps for nearly 300 species, showing where each breeds and winters, where they are most and least abundant and where status is changing. The species accounts and chapters bring together the latest scientific findings to explain these patterns and highlight the major issues facing our changing bird faunas."

The Norfolk Bird Atlas: Summer and Winter Distributions 1999-2007

Moss Taylor and John H Marchant

2011

"Details accounts of summer and winter distributions from extensive fieldwork conducted between 1999-2007. Double page spreads for each bird and covers over 180 species commonly found in Norfolk, and an additional 63 scarcer or rate changes in distribution since the last Norfolk atlas. Superbley illustrated by local artists and photographers."

A Field Guide to Monitoring Nests

James Ferguson-Lees, Richard Castell and Dave Leech

2011

"Intended as an aid to those involved in monitoring nests for research and conservation purposes. Written and illustrated by experts, this guide contains a wealth of information for 145 British and Irish species, together with introductory sections on nest-monitoring techniques, nest identification, legislation, the BTO Nest Record Scheme and nest-finding skills."

Gardening for Birdwatchers

Mike Toms, Ian Wilson and Barley Wilson

2008

"This new book brings together the expertise of garden designers Ian and Barley Wilson (Natural Gardens) with that of the British Trust for Ornithology to produce the definitive guide for improving your garden for birds and other wildlife. The well-illustrated text, complete with planting plans, gets to grips with the techniques that underpin successful wildlife-gardening, highlighting those varieties of plants that have particular wildlife benefits and explaining how best to manage your garden for wildlife. With sections on different garden features (e.g. lawns, ponds, shady corners and sunny borders), this book should enable you to enhance the wildlife value of your own garden. The book contains a wealth of information, all of it based on sound scientific research, enabling you to tackle some of the myths and misconceptions about gardening for wildlife."

Bird Ringing: A Concise Guide

Dawn Balmer, Liz Coiffait, Jacquie Clark & Rob Robinson

2008

"An introductory guide explaining how and why we ring birds. Contains many examples of how ringing contributes to research and monitoring, making this guide a useful training tool for ringers."

Time to Fly: Exploring Bird Migration

Jim Flegg

2004

"In Time to Fly, the author Dr Jim Flegg OBE, former Director of the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) and a ringer of over 30,000 birds, captures the magic of migration among the birds in seven familiar habitats. He investigates when, why and how this frenetic activity takes place and the hazards that migrants may encounter on their often prodigious travels. Nearly one hundred maps illustrate the migratory journeys of birds as diverse as Manx Shearwaters and Chaffinches, House Martins and Cuckoos. Time to Fly is a fascinating read for birdwatchers, whether beginner or more expert, or indeed for anyone with an interest in one of the most striking marvels of nature."

"Time to Fly is an easy-to-read distillation of the key information from The Migration Atlas - Movements of the Birds of Britain & Ireland, published by T & A D Poyser on behalf of the BTO in 2002. Trying to capture the wonder of migration in 184 pages instead of 884 pages has been an enormous challenge."

Garden Birds And Wildlife

Mike Toms and Dr. Paul Sperry

2008

"Written by Dr. Paul Sterry, a leading wildlife author and Mike Toms of the B.T.O. (British Trust for Ornithology) "Garden Birds and Wildlife" is a truly unique, must-have guide perfect for all wildlife watchers. The guide includes unique information from the BTO, providing readers with more information about birds and wildlife in their gardens than any other guide. Each entry is accompanied by numerous photographs and illustrations to help with identification, regardless of the time of year or what the bird is doing. The pictures also underline behaviour and help readers understand why the bird behaves the way it does. Each entry is highly detailed and includes distribution patterns and seasonal trends presented in clear, easy-to-use graphs; details of size, food, nest and eggs; bird numbers; and typical lifespan and the longest recorded lifespan."

The BTO/CJ Garden BirdWatch Handbook

Mike Toms

2004

"Feeding garden birds should have two primary objectives. Firstly to assist birds through the natural crisis points in their life cycle and secondly to help redress the balance of what we have done to the wider countryside. Bird feeding has increased five-fold in the last fifteen years. In early days we could help approximately 18 species in the winter. Now we can help 80 species throughout the year. What effect this is having you will see in later pages. Mike Toms and the Barden BirdWatch team have produced an enthralling book, showing how things have changed for the better since the scheme started in 1995. Hopefully, BTO Garden Birdwatch Handbook will encourage more of you to take part in what is turning out to be the largest and most successful year-round garden bird survey in the World. The results being produced are vital to our understanding of our garden birds and the factors affecting their survival."

The BTO Nestbox Guide

Chris De Feu

2003

"All you need to know about nestboxes in this colourful, practical, informative guide from the British Trust for Ornithology. Whether you want to build your own nestboxes or buy them ready-made, The BTO Nestbox Guide gives instructions and guidance on the types of nestbox preferred by the 24 species most likely to nest in and around your house and garden. Information on building or choosing suitable boxes, when, where and how to site nestboxes, maintenance, nesting materials, details of each species' nesting preferences and behaviour, and watching and monitoring your nesting birds is provided. It is very well illustrated with lots of colour photographs."

The Migration Atlas: Movements of the Birds of Britain and Ireland

C. Wernham, M. Toms, J. Marchant, J. Clark, G. Siriwardena and S. Baillie

Published for the British Trust for Ornithology by Poyser

2002

"Using a vast amount of data that the British Trust for Ornithology have collected from ringing recoveries, this title presents detailed and up-to-date information on bird migration. Since the ringing programme began in 1909, there have been around half a million recoveries of birds ringed in the UK. The data yielded have enabled the BTO to build up a picture of the movements of around 200 migratory species, and this book presents that information in a clear and concise format."

Garden BirdWatch Handbook

Andrew Cannon

1998

"Detailed, easy-to-use guide to the most common British birds, to encourage participation in the British Trust for Ornithology's Garden BirdWatch recording project."

Statistics for Ornithologists

Jim Fowler and Louis Cohen

1995 (2nd edition)

"This guide aims to introduce ornithologists to the fundamentals of statistics without swamping them with the underlying theory. Most of the techniques are illustrated with examples, and all can be applied without the use of a computer."

Identification Guide to European Non-Passerines

Kevin Baker

1993

"A major guide, which complements Lars Svensson's Identification Guide to European Passerines. It covers 119 species, with descriptions of ageing and sexing methods, moult, biometrics and racial differences, making it an invaluable tool for ringers and museum workers, as well as keen birders."

The New Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain & Ireland 1988-1991

David Wingfield Gibbons, James B Reid & Robert A. Chapman

Poyser

Published for the British Trust for Ornithology, the Scottish Ornithologists Club and the Irish Wildbird Conservancy.

1993

An atlas of breeding birds based on surveys undertaken between 1988 and 1991. The introduction describes the methods used in the survey work and explains the various analyses of the data gathered. The species accounts include three maps for each species, one showing breeding distribution, one showing relative abundance of the species throughout its range, and one highlighting changes in distribution between the figures used for this atlas and those for the previous atlas. Species accounts also include a brief text, additional tables and a vignette. Appendices give details of rare breeders as well as extra tabular data.

Nestboxes (2nd edition)

Chris De Feu

BTO

1993

Identification Guide to European Passerines

Lars Svensson

1992

"The ringer's bible is completely revised and updated to include 229 species, with valid subspecies, of passerines regularly occurring in Europe, plus some rare vagrants. Data include wing formulae, measurements, plumage, and other criteria for determining sex and age. It also includes indices of English, Finnish, French, German and Swedish names."

Population Trends in British Breeding Birds

John H. Marchant, Robert Hudson, Steve P. Carter and Phil Whittington

1990

"This major publication brings together the results of monitoring schemes organised by the BTO since the early 1960s to track the changing fortunes of Britain's breeding bird populations, and gives the first definitive insight into the health of our breeding bird populations. Some 164 species are covered, with detailed graphs of population changes over the last 27 years for two-thirds of them. These changes are discussed in relation to factors such as climate, habitat and forestry/agriculture, and the implications for conservation are emphasised."

Nestboxes

Chris De Feu

BTO

1985

Moult in Birds

H.B. Ginn and D.S. Melville

British Trust for Ornithology

1983

"This work falls into two parts. The first section gives a short general summary of the plumage of birds, its structure, arrangement and functions and briefly reviews the various types of moult patterns which are found and the ways of recording them. The second part gives a systematic species-by-species account of points including the number of flight feathers, the sequence, season and rate of moult, its relationship to breeding and migration, and the extent of the post-juvenile moult."

Seasonal Movements of Summer Migrants

N. Riddiford and P. Findley

British Trust for Ornithology

1981

"This guide clearly presents the timing of main immigration and emigration to and from Britain with accounts of 38 species."

Guide to Identification & Ageing of Holarctic Waders

A.J. Prater, J.H. Marchant, J. Vuorinen

BTO

1977

Guide to Identification & Ageing of Holarctic Waders

A.J. Prater, J.H. Marchant, J. Vuorinen

1977

"Reprint of 1977 edition. Primarily aimed at ringers who have the opportunity to examine waders in the hand. It contains much information on identification and ageing, sexing and racial characters to aid birdwatchers in the field."

The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Britain and Ireland

J.T.R. Sharrock

Poyser for British Trust for Ornithology and Irish Wildbird Conservancy

1976

The Atlas plots the results of the survey organised by the BTO and the IWC during the yeays 1968-72. Over 250 maps show the distribution of 218 species.

Bird Ringing

Chris Mead

BTO

1974

Early And Late Dates For Summer Migrants

Robert Hudson

BTO

1973

Binoculars, Telescopes & Cameras for the Birdwatcher

Jim Flegg

British Trust for Ornithology

1972

A Species List Of British & Irish Birds

Robert Hudson

British Trust for Ornithology

1971