Free BTO Garden Birds and Wildlife book. Makes a great present!

Join Garden Bird Watch and get a wonderful Christmas present free!!

Get a free copy of the acclaimed ‘Garden Birds and Wildlife’ book, worth £14.99, and the quarterly magazine Bird Table when you join Garden BirdWatch. Personally and in my opinion, this is one of the best wildlife gardening books available. It is the essential guide to identifying and learning about garden wildlife. It provides you with more garden wildlife information than any other guide. It translates scientific papers into everyday language. It makes your garden more fascinating. Buy a gift for someone or keep it for yourself!! Enjoy Garden Birdwatch from the comfort of your armchair. A Citizen Science garden wildlife project. Join to get your free gift here!!

Tony Soper quote: ‘Garden wildlife is endlessly fascinating. Garden Birds and Wildlife is the perfect companion for the garden-watcher. Every kitchen windowsill should have a copy.’ Writer and broadcaster Tony Soper

Chris Packham quote: ‘Garden BirdWatch is a great way to understand and help the birds and other wildlife on your doorstep. Please help by making your garden count.’ Chris Packham, BTO President

What is Garden BirdWatch?

Garden BirdWatch is all about getting involved and gathering really useful information, using simple recording techniques. You can record what you see in your garden over your morning coffee or while working in the garden. How much time you spend is up to you. All that we ask is that you try to be consistent from one week to the next. The information you collect can either be posted back to us four times a year or entered online through our special web pages. When you join Garden BirdWatch you’ll be joining an established community of ‘citizen scientists’, people with a shared interest in their gardens and the wildlife that they contain. You will also discover new and exciting things about the behaviour of birds and other species using your garden.

Why are gardens important? 

UK gardens cover an area greater in size than the county of Suffolk and are the main contributors to biodiversity within urban landscapes. Your garden may seem unimportant because it is small and removed from the wider countryside, but don’t forget that birds are mobile. Your garden, with its resources is part of a larger patchwork and will be used by many different creatures. Gardens support important breeding populations of a number of declining bird species (e.g. Song Thrush, House Sparrow and Starling). They also hold about a third of Britain’s breeding Blackbirds and Greenfinches. Garden plants provide nectaring opportunities for many visiting insects, helping to support their populations over a wider area.

Did you know?

• That Siskins are more likely to visit your garden on a wet day, because this is when pine cones are firmly closed, restricting access to their seeds.

• That some of your wintering Blackbirds may have come from Poland, Germany or Russia.

• That some farmland finches and buntings rely on rural gardens in winter for food because seed and grain are scarce elsewhere.

• That our Garden BirdWatchers also tell us about other garden wildlife, like dragonflies and bees.

The Garden BirdWatch membership benefits:

A welcome pack and your free book.

A quarterly magazine packed with interesting Garden Wildlife articles.

Access to Garden BirdWatch Online.

Recording forms and instructions.

Chances to share your experiences with like-minded individuals.

Access to the BTO’s team of garden wildlife experts.

The opportunity to contribute valuable information that can be used to help conserve birds and other wildlife.

Join to get your free gift here!!