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Use of dwarf shrubland–grassland mosaics by a nomadic predatory bird, the Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus
Our latest Short-eared Owl research helps us understand their habitat requirements and inform conservation.

News
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Press releases
- Scotland’s seabird pirates in peril
- Breeding Bird Survey celebrates 30 years of citizen science in Scotland
- Seabird tracking sheds new light on migration
- Travel far, breed hard, die young! The surprising lifestyle choices of Short-eared Owls
- Declining seabirds on a cliff edge
- Scottish Ornithologists’ Club recognised with prestigious award
Blogs
- Arctic Skua migration: stories from the field
- The astonishing migration of Scotland’s Arctic Skuas
- Citizen Science in Shetland
- A Haar Day's Month: Gull Tracking on the Isle of May
- The next generation of seabird champions
- Scotland’s winter visitors: why and how do they migrate?
- Tracking songbird migration across the Sahara
- Tracking Short-eared Owls: Notes from the field
Latest publications
2024
2023
2022
- BirdTrends 2022
- A review to inform the assessment of the risk of collision and displacement in petrels and shearwaters from offshore wind developments in Scotland
- Scoping the feasibility of developments to the Terrestrial Bird Indicator for Scotland – urban, farmland and wetland indicators
- Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme Trends Summary 2009–2018
- Behavioural responses of non-breeding waterbirds to marine traffic in the near-shore environment
2021
- Upward elevational shift by breeding Whinchat Saxicola rubetra in response to cessation of grazing in upland grassland
- The Shetland Bird Survey: Population trends for widespread breeding birds 2002-2019
- Wader populations on the UK’s open coast: results of the 2015/16 Non-Estuarine Waterbird Survey (NEWS-III) and a review of population trends
- Northern Ireland Lowland Breeding Wader Survey
- Contrasting long‐term trends in age‐specific survival of Peregrine Falcons (Falco peregrinus) in Britain using smoothed estimates of recovery probabilities
2020
- The State of the UK's Birds 2020
- Delivering robust population trends for Scotland's widespread breeding birds
- Behavioural responses of non-breeding waterbirds to drone approach are associated with flock size and habitat
- Audit of local studies of breeding Curlew and other waders in Britain and Ireland
- A schematic sampling protocol for contaminant monitoring in raptors
- Integrating scientific and local knowledge to address conservation conflicts: Towards a practical framework based on lessons learned from a Scottish case study
- Breeding bird assemblages supported by developing upland shrub woodland are influenced by micro-climate and habitat structure
2019
- Associations between gamebird releases and general predators
- Investigating wader breeding productivity in the East Cairngorms Moorland Partnership Area using collaborative methods
- The Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme: recent developments in good practice monitoring
- Declining population trends of European mountain birds
2018
- Review of data and monitoring options for assessing the status of breeding wader populations in the Yorkshire Dales National Park
- When is enough enough? Effective sampling protocols for estimating the survival rates of seabirds with mark-recapture techniques
- Quantifying avian avoidance of offshore wind turbines: Current evidence and key knowledge gaps
- A review of raptor and owl monitoring activity across Europe: its implications for capacity building towards pan-European monitoring
- The breeding population of Peregrine Falcon Falco peregrinus in the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands in 2014
2017
- Monitoring Breeding Waders in Wensleydale: trialling surveys carried out by farmers and gamekeepers
- Modelled abundance and change in abundance of Red Deer and Roe Deer in Scotland from Breeding Bird Survey data
- Large-scale citizen science improves assessment of risk posed by wind farms to bats in southern Scotland
- Stand structure and breeding birds in managed Scots pine forests: Some likely long-term implications for continuous cover forestry
- The decline of a population of farmland breeding waders: a twenty-five-year case study
- Continuing influences of introduced hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus as a predator of wader (Charadrii) eggs four decades after their release on the Outer Hebrides, Scotland
2016
- Urban Breeding Gull Surveys: A Review of Methods and Options for Survey Design
- Vegetation structure influences foraging decisions in a declining grassland bird: the importance of fine-scale habitat and grazing regime
- Understanding Predation. A review bringing together natural science and local knowledge of recent wild bird population changes and their drivers in Scotland
2015
- Changes in breeding wader populations of the Uist machair between 1983 and 2014
- Multi-scale associations with habitat, land use and change: Opportunities and limitations for Whinchats Saxicola rubetra in the uplands of Scotland
- Collision, Displacement and Barrier - Effect Concept Note
- Comparison of breeding bird assemblages in conifer plantations managed by continuous cover forestry and clearfelling
- Modelling the abundance and distribution of marine birds accounting for uncertain species identification
- Raptors in Scotland – a methodology for developing trends and indicators
2014
- The avoidance rates of collision between birds and offshore turbines
- Modelling flight heights of marine birds to more accurately assess collision risk with offshore wind turbines
- Conservation management of moorland: a case study of the effectiveness of a combined suite of management prescriptions which aim to enhance breeding bird populations
- Changes in breeding wader assemblages, vegetation and land use within machair environments over three decades
- Evidence for contrasting causes of population change in two closely related, sympatric breeding species the Whinchat Saxicola rubetra and Stonechat Saxicola torquata in Britain
- Great skua (Stercorarius skua) movements at sea in relation to marine renewable energy developments
- Landscape transition through natural processes: implications for biodiversity of tree regeneration on moorland
2013
- Effects on bird abundance and species richness of edge restructuring to include shrubs at the interface between conifer plantations and moorland
- Recent population declines in Afro-Palaearctic migratory birds: the influence of breeding and non-breeding seasons
- A sample survey of the breeding birds at woodland expansion sites of the Scottish Forest Alliance in 2007
- The importance of the United Kingdom for wintering gulls: population estimates and conservation requirements
- Diurnal and nocturnal ranging behaviour by moorland-breeding Short-eared Owls Asio flammeus in Scotland
- The Biodiversity in Glasgow (BIG) Project
2012
- Ornithology Technical Report for the Proposed Dogger Bank Teesside A and B Offshore Wind Farm Projects
- Raptors: a field guide for surveys and monitoring [3rd Edition]
- Ornithological Technical Report for the Proposed Dogger Bank Creyke Beck Offshore Wind Farm Projects.
- Developing methods for the field survey and monitoring of breeding Short-eared Owls (Asio flammeus) in the UK: an interim report from pilot fieldwork in 2006
- Changing migration patterns of the Short-eared Owl Asio flammeus in Europe: an analysis of ringing recoveries
- The importance of altitude and aspect for breeding Whinchat Saxicola rubetra in the uplands: Limitations of the uplands as a refuge for a declining, formerly widespread species?
2011
- 2010 Review of Goose Management Policy in Scotland. BTO and CJC Consulting report to the Scottish Government
- Developing our Understanding of Biodiversity in Scotland's Gardens: the Role of the BTO's Garden Birdwatch
- Seasonal variation in the apparent abundance of breeding birds in arctic-alpine habitats of Scotland: implications for their survey and monitoring
- A survey of population changes in breeding waders on machair in Benbecula and North Uist: annual surveys in 2008-2010 and changes since the mid-1980s
- Third year of ornithological surveys at House of Water, East Ayrshire: breeding season 2010 and winter season 2010-11
2010
- Changes in the breeding wader populations of the machair of the Western Isles, Scotland, between 2000 and 2007
- Engaging with biodiversity in Scotland's gardens: the role of the BTO's Garden BirdWatch
- Variation in the diurnal activity of breeding Short-eared Owls Asio flammeus: implications for their survey and monitoring
- An examination of reptile and amphibian populations in gardens, the factors influencing garden use and the role of a 'Citizen Science' approach for monitoring their populations within this habitat
- The ranging behaviour and habitat selection by three Hawfinches Coccothraustes coccothraustes in late winter in Scotland
2009
- Indexing winter gull numbers in Great Britain using data from the 1953 to 2004 Winter Gull Roost Surveys
- Fine-scale foraging behaviour of a medium-ranging marine predator
2008
- Application of habitat suitability modelling to tracking data of marine animals as a means of analyzing their feeding habitats
- Population decline of Leach's Storm-petrel Oceanodroma leucorhoa within the largest colony in Britain and Ireland