British Trust for Ornithology The Nest Record Scheme

The BTO’s Nest Record Scheme (NRS) gathers vital information on the breeding success of Britain’s birds by asking volunteers to find and follow the progress of individual bird nests.

The data collected are used to produce trends in breeding performance, which help us to identify species that may be declining because of problems at the nesting stage. These trends are published on the BTO website and are updated every year. NRS data also allow us to measure the impacts of pressures such as climate change on bird productivity.

Anyone can be a nest recorder. Some people watch a single nest box in their back garden while others spend hundreds of hours finding and monitoring nests in the wider countryside.