BTO has continued to play a central role in the response to the emergence of high pathogenicity avian influenza (HPAI) in our waterbird, seabird, and bird of prey populations. During 2023 we saw HPAI devastate Black-headed Gull and Common Tern colonies, many of which were located inland and away from the coastal seabird colonies hit the previous year. We continued to work with partners in Government and other NGOs to understand the impacts of this disease outbreak and to identify ways in which we might tackle the challenges posed by HPAI.
We have been able to use the data collected by our volunteers to assess the impact of HPAI on bird populations. We have also carried out vulnerability assessments, identifying the species and populations at greatest risk from the outbreak, which in consultation with others we have used to inform changes to our ringing guidance. This information is being used to direct conservation responses and the prioritisation of resources.
BTO has also been developing tools to inform future decision making, including the development of predictive models that can highlight likely spread in poultry based on wild bird abundance and movements across Europe, something of great importance to the poultry industry.
We also recognised the need to bring together the knowledge and data being generated as researchers from across the world responded to HPAI outbreaks in wild birds. We launched a call for papers for a special issue of our journal Bird Study, which attracted significant interest and saw two issues dedicated to the disease published in 2024 and 2025. By bringing this information together in one place we will also deliver an opportunity to raise awareness of the work being done as we respond to this disease.
HPAI is not the only disease on which BTO has been working. In November 2023, we celebrated 10 years of the Garden Wildlife Health project, operated by BTO in partnership with the Zoological Society of London, RSPB, and Froglife. The project monitors the health of, British wildlife, identifying disease threats and bringing together both opportunistic and systematic monitoring, the latter delivered by participants in BTO Garden BirdWatch.
An event at London Zoo brought together a host of researchers and NGOs to both celebrate the project’s many achievements and discuss the most pressing disease threats, one of which is Usutu virus in Blackbirds — the subject of a project that was initiated by BTO and partners in summer 2023.