The
Countryside Bird Survey (CBS) is Ireland’s programme for monitoring common
breeding birds across Ireland. Each summer, around 200 skilled volunteers,
National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) Conservation Rangers and BirdWatch
Ireland staff survey the breeding birds present in over 300 1km squares across
the country. CBS squares are surveyed in two visits, one in early and another
in late summer, between 1st April and 30th June each year.
The primary
objective of the Countryside Bird Survey is to monitor breeding populations of
common and widespread species in terrestrial habitats in the Republic of
Ireland. In choosing what areas will be sampled, grid squares of 10km 2 were
randomly chosen, in eight regions across the country, and the 1km square at the
south-west corner of that 10km square is surveyed. The structured nature of the
survey methodology has allowed for the production of annual species trends to
help monitor the changing status of over 50 species, since it began in 1998. As
well as species-specific trends, CBS data is used to produce a Common Bird
Index and Farmland Bird Index for Ireland and through the Pan-European Common
Bird Monitoring Scheme, these data contribute to similar indices at the
European scale.
We’re always in need of new CBS surveyors, so if
you know your birds and their songs and calls, please get in touch!
