We wish to inform the broader EBCC network that false emails using the EBCC Chair’s name, Sergi Herrando, including his position, photo, and the EBCC logo, have been used to request a fraudulent monetary donation. These emails come from a completely different email address not connected to our Chair, asking for money for a „sick friend in need“. We urge everyone not to respond to these emails or send any money in response.
On 8 October, the official launch event for the new European Bird Portal (EBP) Viewer took place in Brussels, bringing together EBP partners, stakeholders, and bird enthusiasts. The event marked an important milestone for one of Europe's most ambitious citizen science initiatives, giving us a chance to showcase the new EBP viewer and its powerful features to a wider audience.
The EBCC launched a new version of the EuroBirdPortal (EBP) viewer today. This new version has been expanded to cover all bird species occurring in Europe, providing free access to hundreds of animated maps showing the weekly distribution of nearly 600 bird species, updated close to real time. Now everyone can check the whereabouts of their favourite bird with just a few clicks!
The results of a new study using data from the 2nd European Breeding Bird Atlas show that selecting 30% of Europe's highest-priority terrestrial areas would protect 49% of species’ ranges and 63% of species’ populations. This has important implications for conservation planning by identifying biodiversity hotspots and key prioritisation areas at the European level.
Discover the latest from bird monitoring in Switzerland in a comprehensive report compiled by our national partner, the Swiss Ornithological Institute, with immense fieldwork effort from more than 2,000 volunteers! Enjoy the read!
The results of the latest completed Small Grant Fund project from Serbia are in! Thanks to our support, the Bird Protection and Study Society of Serbia (BPSSS) has collected invaluable data that will enrich the upcoming Atlas of Breeding Birds of Serbia. The project primarily conducted surveys of poorly known forest birds and the first census of Collared Sand Martin colonies in Serbia. Based on sampling effort and encounter rates, the Collared Flycatcher was the only target species classified as widespread and “common”. At the same time, Red-breasted Flycatcher, Wood Warbler, and Semi-collared Flycatcher remain highly rare, localised, and sporadic breeding species within Serbia. Unfortunately, the survey has confirmed a significant long-term decline in the Collared Sand Martin population.
The results of a new study show that spatial structure is a persistent and fundamental feature of biodiversity, but it depends strongly on scale, does not change uniformly over time, and varies across species and ecological contexts. This has important implications for conservation planning (e.g., identifying biodiversity hotspots), ecological modelling (where spatial dependence must be accounted for), and understanding how biodiversity responds to long-term environmental change.
The Farmland Bird Indicator (FBI) has been one of the few indicators relevant to biodiversity within the EU Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). It is the most robust biodiversity indicator used by Eurostat. The indicator shows the performance of common bird species characteristic of farmland and thus informs on the state of overall biodiversity in farmland. Therefore, the EBCC wishes to express its concern about the potential removal of biodiversity indicators post-2027 CAP and the EU budget performance framework.
As Europe’s landscapes continue to change, many farmland birds — once widespread and familiar — are quietly vanishing. Identifying where these declines occur, how rapidly, and why is vital for protecting biodiversity and guiding effective environmental policies. A recent scientific study, utilising data collected through the EBCC network and published in Conservation Biology, offers a valuable new tool: the ability to generate regular, high‑resolution maps illustrating changes in the probability of farmland bird occurrences across Europe.
We are pleased to announce that the Proceedings of the 23rd conference of the European Bird Census Council (EBCC), titled “Bird Numbers 2025: Synergies in monitoring for conservation”, have now been published in the Environmental and Experimental Biology open access journal. The articles offer brief insights into the topics presented and discussed at the conference and are sure to provide readers with interesting information.
