BTO Scotland

Cuckoo. Edmund Fellowes/ BTO

Short-eared Owl (with a satellite tag). John Calladine/ BTO

If you're in or around Dumfries and Galloway next week we'll be speaking to the SOC Dumfries branch on Wednesday evening and then at the Stewartry branch on Thursday. We'll be talking migration and tracking of some amazing birds!

A BTO stand at an event showing three BTO banners in the background and in the foreground a table with BTO magazines, leaflets and information about BTO's surveys and projects.

Today and tomorrow we're joining the Scotland's Nature Student Conference @scotnsconf.bsky.social at Stirling University @stir.ac.uk. It's a great chance to meet students from across Scotland and chat with them about BTO's work and opportunities to get involved. #SNSC2026

A Blue Tit perches on a branch showing its blue-green and yellow plumage and blue cap.

5/ Some very common and familiar birds have lovely descriptive names in Gaelic as well. The humble Blue Tit is ‘Cailleachag cheann-ghorm’ meaning ‘blue headed little old lady’.

A male and female Capercaillie in a snowy woodland.

4/ Capercaillie is derived from the Gaelic ‘Capall-coille’ meaning ‘horse of the woods’. Amongst the many weird and wonderful noises lekking male Capercaillie make is a popping noise which could have sounded like horse’s hooves in the forest.

3/ One of the remarkable things about Ptarmigan is their winter moult when they turn nearly fully white. Interestingly their Gaelic name in winter plumage is ‘Sneachdaire’ which is based on the word ‘sneachd’ meaning snow!

A Ptarmigan showing its barred brown-grey upper plumage and white belly with red patch above the eye.

2/ There are two birds whose common name is derived from Gaelic – Ptarmigan & Capercaillie. Ptarmigan was taken from the Gaelic name ‘Tàrmachan’ which translates as ‘the croaker’. If you’ve been lucky enough to hear the males croaking call across a high corrie you’ll know why they got this name.

A Ptarmigan in winter plumage showing white feathers.

1/ To celebrate Seachdain na Gàidhlig / World Gaelic Week we’ll be sharing some interesting bits and pieces connecting birds with the Gaelic language. 🐦

Airson Seachdain na Gàidhlig am-bliadhna bidh sinn a’ roinn cuid de rudan inntinneach mu eòin agus a’ chàna.

Discover more ⬇️🧵

It's always nice at this time of year to get the email from the @birdtrack.bsky.social team with a summary of your BirdTrack records for the previous year. It's a nice little motivator. Feel free to share yours below! #BirdingScotland

🚨 SOC/BTO Scottish Bird Camp 2026 is GO! Colonsay here we come....Head over to the SOC website to find out more: www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/event/...

Image of an Arctic Skua with wording at the bottom that reads: New Study. Global population status of the migratory Holarctic species Arctic Skua. www.bto.org/Arctic-Skua-Populations. BTO logo top right.

1/ Arctic Skuas are on the UK Birds of Conservation Concern Red List. But new BTO-led research reveals just how much we don’t know about their numbers globally. Discover more. ⬇️ #Ornithology #Seabirds

📖 www.bto.org/Arctic-Skua-...

🦉🏕️ We'll launch the details and application for Scottish Bird Camp in the first week of February- keep your eyes peeled here or on the @scottishbirding.bsky.social pages! #BTOYouth #BirdingScotland

This is a fantastic offer of support for young birders to attend the Scottish Birdwatchers' Conference! Thanks to SOC Highland for their generosity.

A small group of gulls standing in shallow sea water, in the centre are a juvenile and second winter Glaucous Gull.

A very enjoyable @webs-gsmp.bsky.social count at Dunnet Bay this morning with my first Glaucous Gulls of the year - plus a smart Water Pipit was a great bonus! #CaithnessBirds

We still have key vacant sites available in Shetland for the International Swan Census (ISC) this weekend (17th-18th January 2026).🦢

To request a site, please visit: app.bto.org/gsmp/public/...

@scottishbirding.bsky.social #BirdingScotland

Please note the two upland events don't have a fee, and never should have, it was error at our end!

🚨UPDATE re. our training events 🚨- due to an admin error the two uplands days had a fee associated with them, despite the event info saying they were free. They are free, and the booking fee has been removed. Apologies for the confusion! 🤦https://www.bto.org/about/where/scotland/events-training

If you fancy joining us to find out more about helping with the Breeding Bird Survey @bbs-birds.bsky.social then come along to any of these events. More details in the link: www.bto.org/about/where/...
#BirdingScotland

Still some vacant sites in Scotland! If you can help with the International Swan Census on 17th-18th January please click on the link below to find a vacant site near you. #BirdingScotland

Borders The SOC

On Monday 12th January members of the BTO Scotland team will be out on the road delivering talks to local @scottishbirding.bsky.social branches. Paul and David will be in Glasgow and Steve will be in the Borders. More info here: www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/local-...
www.the-soc.org.uk/pages/local-...

Hi Louise, good question! The wheels are in motion to get everything updated and online and we'll announce that here and by email to volunteers who have taken part in the last couple of years. Great to hear you're back!
🚵‍♀️

Can you help us with this important survey in Scotland in 2026? We've been delighted to maintain coverage of over 600 squares each spring since 2019. They are all over Scotland and there will be a vacant square near you. Have a look and find out more. Thanks!!!

Guillemot. Philip Croft/ BTO

Waking up this morning and facing our post-holidays inbox: (Happy New Year to all our followers!)

Beautiful Gary!!!! Well done for persisting. They are awesome birds aren't they?

Robin in the snow. Peter Howlett/ BTO

Wishing all our members and supporters a very Merry Christmas and all the best for 2026! We'll be back on here in early January. Until then enjoy the break and we hope you can make some time to get out and enjoy some winter birding!

And to you! Have a good one and all the best for 2026!

Here's a fantastic opportunity from SOC. Have a look at the link for more details!

1/ The Scottish Bird indicators are out now! These data – a lot from @bbs-birds.bsky.social from 1994-2024, show how birds in Scotland are faring in different habitats. Woodland birds are doing comparatively well, whereas upland birds are in decline.
www.nature.scot/doc/official...

5/ Indicators like this help monitor biodiversity in Scotland. A huge thank you must go to all @bbs-birds.bsky.social volunteers who spend hours surveying, often across difficult and challenging terrain, to collect valuable data. Thank you!

4/ Overall, bird populations in pastoral and wooded farmland appear to be faring better than those in arable or wet farmland. Although none of the changes between 1994 and 2024 were significant, populations on all types declined significantly over the past decade.

3/ More frequent mild winters have helped some species, especially in woodland, but changes in rainfall have reduced prey availability for key upland specialists. Some urban populations are thriving while others may be impacted by disease.