All records of ornithological interest, from London Natural History Society (LNHS) members and non-members alike, are welcomed by the London Bird Club (LBC) especially records of breeding, even of common, species. The records are used to compile the annual London Bird Report.
Sensitive records can be sent direct to one of the LNHS bird recorders and will be treated in confidence.
The LNHS records a wide variety of flora, fauna and fungi, so for advice on recording other organisms please see our Biological Recording page.
To ensure that your bird records make their way to the LNHS, please use the preferred or alternative submission methods listed below. Please note that bird records submitted through other systems may not be shared with the LBC.
Guidance for Bird Recorders
Every year, a significant amount of time is spent by the volunteers working on the LBC’s Rarities Committee and the London Bird Report. It will help us a lot if you can remember the following.
- Use your actual observer name (not a social media handle or alias, however well-known your ‘brand name’ is).
- Ensure we can contact you by email. (If you registered to a records portal, the email is available.)
- Use standard names in the Gazetteer of Sites used by the LBC (see locality information section below).
- Note the helpful information in the section below on details to provide and information on sensitive records.
LNHS Recording Area
The geographical area that we cover is divided into seven bird recording areas (Inner London rectangle plus 'vice counties' - the boundaries of the vice counties are more or less based on the original county boundaries). 'Inner London' consists of a rectangle based on Charing Cross (click on the map on the right for more info). See our Biological Recording page for more details.
Locality Information
Site names, including the names of towns, villages, open spaces, etc., are listed in our Gazetteer of Sites (see below). Please use these site names, when sending in records. If you need to send in details from a site that is not listed in the Gazetteer, please give an OS Grid Reference and relevant background information about the site.
Species Checklists
The Checklist Guide Breeding Criteria and Checklist Guide Spreadsheet contain the checklist of birds of the London Area and a guide for contributors of ornithological records. Breeding criteria are included on page 11 of the PDF file. This guide is not intended to be comprehensive, and contributors are asked to use their own guidance and common sense, but it does serve as a reference point for the type of records required.
- Download the Checklist Guide Breeding Criteria
- Download the Checklist Guide Breeding Criteria Spreadsheet
Rarities
Please download the form for submitting Details of an Unusual Record Form. This form can be completed online, for which you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader DC, or an equivalent program; alternatively you can print the form and complete it manually. In either case, please send it to the Chair of the Rarities Committee as an email attachment or by post as soon as possible (see the London Bird Club section of the Contact Us page for details).
Surveys
Volunteers are always wanted for the BTO/JNCC/RSPB Breeding Bird Survey (BBS).
Preferred Submission Method: Going Birding Records Portal
Our preference is that you use the online recording facilities provided for the club by Going Birding.
You can view the latest sightings here and use the links on that page to sign up so that you can submit your records:
- London Bird Club Twitter (@LondonBirdClub)
- This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
Alternative Submission Methods
Although the Going Birding Records portal is our preferred submission pathway, we can also receive records through the following alternative submission methods.
BirdTrack
We can take records from the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) BirdTrack system, but please use the site names, listed in our Gazetteer of Sites (see locality information section above).
Please note that BirdTrack may not make your records available to LNHS automatically. You need to log in to BirdTrack and check the option ‘My details & settings’. At the bottom of that page, if it says ‘You have asked us not to forward your records to local bird recorders’, then we will not be able to obtain your records. You cannot alter this setting directly. You need to email BirdTrack and ask them to change this.
eBird
We can take records from eBird. Their London hotspots are derived from the sites in our Gazetteer of Sites (see locality information section above). Please use these for the localities of your records.
Direct to LNHS Recorder
Please download the Bird Recording Form and use this Excel spreadsheet to compile your records. The Gazetteer of Sites and the Checklist, Guide and Breeding Criteria are also included as sheets in the Bird Recording Form. The completed spreadsheet should then be sent to the relevant LNHS bird recorder (see the London Bird Club section of the Contact Us page for details).
London Bird Club Wiki
You can enter records onto the LBC Wiki. If you do use the Wiki, please send your email address to the LBC Data Manager (see the London Bird Club section of the Contact Us page for details), so that we can contact you to resolve any problems. Also please use the suggested format, and the site names in our Gazetteer of Sites (see locality information section above).
If you choose to enter records in more than one way, please let the LBC Data Manager know which one we should take as your “master list”, so that we can avoid storing duplicates. (see the London Bird Club section of the Contact Us page for details).
Data Protection
Your records may include personal data as they show where you were on a particular date. The LNHS’s Privacy Notice explains how and why we use people’s personal data and your rights in relation to that data. It explains that records may be passed on to other organisations in order to further our natural history and conservation objects. Please read the Privacy Notice before submitting records to us.