Dotterel by Jack Bucknall

Other useful resources and links

Any birdwatcher who finds a rare breeding bird should report it to the relevant county or regional recorder.

We recommend that records are submitted via BirdTrack.

To get the name of the bird recorder for a county or region, check the British Birds list here.

Most rare breeding birds are particularly susceptible to disturbance and indeed most are specially protected under Schedule 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act (1981). We strongly advise their whereabouts are not publicised unless the bird is breeding at a public and well protected area such as a wardened nature reserve. The finder should carefully consider who to tell; we recommend that the county/regional bird recorder (see above) is informed, in confidence, but that information is not shared with bird news organisations and local bird news grapevines. This recommendation also applies to apparent territorial birds which may be attempting to breed. We have published a statement on this, which can be accessed here.

Raptor Monitoring

The Rare Breeding Birds Panel is a partner within the Scottish Raptor Monitoring Scheme.

Other useful information on raptor monitoring can be found on the websites of the Northern England Raptor Forum and the Scottish Raptor Study Group.