West Midland Bird Club

Birmingham and The Black Country Breeding Bird Survey - More Detail

What will the Breeding Bird Survey achieve?

The Breeding Bird Survey of Birmingham and the Black Country will:

add to the understanding of birds in the urban environment,
identify the status of breeding birds around the turn of the Millennium,
aid the implementation of the Birmingham and the Black Country Biodiversity Action Plan, and
complement the current Birmingham and the Black Country Flora project.

At the end of the Survey, the information gathered will be analysed to provide important details about the breeding birds of Birmingham and the Black Country. An Atlas will be produced, with maps showing the distribution of species across the area.

How is the survey structured?

For biological recording of this scale, the tetrad is the standard recording unit. Tetrads are based on the even-numbered 1km grid lines of the Ordnance Survey. Therefore, each tetrad is 2km square and each 10km square contains 25 tetrads. For this survey we would like to know the breeding status of each species in each tetrad.

Each tetrad has a reference letter, starting with 'A' in the southwest or bottom left-hand corner of the 10kn square and continuing up and eastwards across the square, omitting the letter 'O'.

How to Help.

BBCBBS Newsletter No. 3 - Spring 2002