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RESEARCH GRANTS

BIRD ACTION GRANTS

In 1999, the BOU launched the Bird Action Grant Scheme as part of its flagship project, The British List. Bird Action Grants were set up to assist UK-based projects aimed at researching and protecting the UK’s most vulnerable declining bird species as listed in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan. These species are –

  • Bittern Botaurus stellaris
  • Common Scoter Melanitta nigra
  • Black Grouse Tetreo tetrix
  • Capercaillie Tetreo uragallus
  • Grey Patridge Perdix perdix
  • Corn Crake Crex crex
  • Stone-curlew Burhinus oedicnemus
    Red-necked Phalarope Phalaropus lobatus
  • Roseate Tern Sterna dougallii
  • Turtle Dove Streptopelia turtur
  • Nightjar Caprimulgus europaeus
  • Wryneck Jynx torquilla
  • Woodlark Lullula arborea
  • Aquatic Warbler Acrocephalus paludicola
  • Marsh Warbler Acrocephalus palustris
  • Spotted Flycatcher Muscicapa striata
  • Red-backed Shrike Lanius collurio
  • Tree Sparrow Passer montanus
  • Linnet Carduelis cannabina
  • Bullfinch Pyrrhula pyrrhula
  • Cirl Bunting Emberiza cirlus
  • Reed Bunting Emberiza schoeniclus
  • Scottish Crossbill Loxia scotica
  • Corn Bunting Miliaria calandra

The BOU's Bird Action Grant Scheme is funded by money raised from the BOU's Christmas BirdWatch.

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Bird Action Grants awarded in 2000

This year the BOU is able to award the first Bird Action Grants to three very different projects aimed at helping Britain’s declining bird species.

Twyi Valley Tree Sparrow Project—awarded £300

The British Tree Sparrow population has suffered a staggering 87% decline in recent decades. This once common bird could be found along hedgerows throughout much of Great Britain.

The BOU is pleased to award £300 to the Twyi Valley Tree Sparrow Group to help them study their local Tree Sparrow population. The aims of the study study, which started in 1998, are –

  • investigation of Tree Sparrow population in the Tywi Valley
  • winter feeding to support and estimate numbers of wintering birds
  • surveying breeding population – distribution and numbers
  • provision of nest boxes
  • identify habitat use at different times of the year
  • locate wintering sites
  • to promote the study and conservation of Tree Sparrows to the local public and farming communities

Norfolk Bird Atlas—awarded £1000

Bird atlases are important tools that provide us with detailed information about the birds of the area covered. Britain and Ireland have been surveyed twice during the breeding season and once during the winter, and we are now seeing the first attempts at atlasing at the county level. Norfolk has long been recognised as one of the country’s most important bird-rich counties, holding many declining and rare species. The aims of the Norfolk Bird Atlas project are 

  • to collect data on a tetrad basis on all species found within the county during both breeding and non-breeding periods, including the following Biodiversity Action Plan species: Turtle Dove, Nightjar, Wood Lark, Spotted Flycatcher, Tree Sparrow, Linnet, Bullfinch, Reed Bunting and Corn Bunting
  • to mobilise local volunteers to collect data over a five year period (field worked commenced December 1999)
  • to publish the results in book form as a companion volume to the recently published The Birds of Norfolk

For this reason, the BOU is very pleased to award the Norfolk Bird Atlas the £1000 they requested from the BOU’s Bird Action Grant scheme.

Parish Wood Extension, Filey, North Yorkshire—awarded £1700

Filey Brigg Ornithological Group (FBOG) manages the Filey Dams Nature Reserve, Parish Wood Community Woodland and the Filey Brigg Observation (seawatching) Hide on this famous North Yorkshire headland.

FBOG are now seeking to purchase two plots of land adjacent to their existing Parish Wood site. This is an ambitious project with FBOG needing to raise £50,000 to achieve the purchase of both plots. The aims of their project are -

  • to purchase land adjacent to existing nature reserve area and to protect and enhance the habitat
  • to reintroduce an environmentally sympathetic farming regime
  • to provide conditions conducive to the return of previously common farmland birds including Corn Bunting, Grey Patridge, Reed Bunting and Tree Sparrow

The BOU is pleased to award FBOG a grant of £1700 to help them secure the purchase of the two plots of land.

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