Publications
Indices, trends, and indicators
PECBMS common bird species indices, trends, and indicators are regularly published on the website.
Brochures and leaflets
We published our results in printed brochures or leaflets. Today, we only produce electronical publications.
Best Practice Guide
Valuable advice on how to plan a monitoring scheme you find in the Best Practice Guide. This rather thin book has been written by a group of co-authors. It can give the reader various information and examples in several case studies useful for setting up a sustainable and well-organized monitoring scheme.
You can download an electronic version of the Best Practice Guide (14 MB).
List of scientific papers using the PECBMS results
2024
Jiří Reif, Anna Gamero, Adriana Hološková, Ainars Aunins, Tomasz Chodkiewicz, Iordan Hristov, Petras Kurlavičius, Meelis Leivits, Tibor Szép, Petr Voříšek: Accelerated farmland bird population declines in European countries after their recent EU accession. Science of The Total Environment. Volume 946, 2024, 174281, ISSN 0048-9697. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2024.174281
Šilarová E. and Klvaňová A. 2024: Turtle Dove Conservation. The Breeding Bird Survey 2023, p. 9, BTO Research Report 765. British Trust for Ornithology, Thetford.
Jan Grünwald, Ainārs Auniņš, Mattia Brambilla, Virginia Escandell, Daniel Palm Eskildsen, Tomasz Chodkiewicz, Benoît Fontaine, Frédéric Jiguet, John Atle Kålås, Johannes Kamp, Alena Klvaňová, Lechosław Kuczyński, Aleksi Lehikoinen, Åke Lindström, Renno Nellis, Ingar Jostein Øien, Eva Šilarová, Nicolas Strebel, Thomas Vikstrøm, Petr Voříšek, Jiří Reif: Ecological traits predict population trends of urban birds in Europe. Ecological Indicators. Volume 160, 2024, 111926, ISSN 1470-160X. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2024.111926
2023
Gregory R. D., Eaton M. A., Burfield I. J., Grice P. V., Howard Ch., Klvaňová A., Noble D., Šilarová E., Staneva A., Stephens P. A., Willis S. G., Woodward I. D. and Burns F.2023: Drivers of the changing abundance of European birds at two spatial scales. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 378: 20220198. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2022.0198
Rigal S., Dakos V., Alonso H., Auniņš A., Benkő Z., Brotonsf L., Chodkiewicz T., Chylarecki P., de Carlil E., del Moral J. C., Domșa C., Escandell V., Fontaine B., Foppen R., Gregory R., Harriss S., Herrando S., Husby M., Ieronymidou Ch., Jiguet F., Kennedy J., Klvaňová A., Kmecl P., Kuczyński L., Kurlavičius P., Kålås J. A., Lehikoinen A., Lindström Å., Lorrillièr R., Moshøj Ch., Nellis R., Noble D., Palm Eskildsen D., Paquet J.-Y., Pelissié M., Pladevall C., Portolou D., Reif J., Schmid H., Seaman B., Szabo Z. D., Szép T., Tellini Florenzano G., Teufelbauer N., Trautmann S., van Turnhout Ch., Vermouzek Z., Vikstrøm T., Voříšek P., Weiserbs A. a Devictor V. 2023: Farmland practices are driving bird population decline across Europe. PNAS https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2216573120
2022
Buchan, C., Franco, A. M. A., Catry, I., Gamero, A., Klvaňová, A., & Gilroy, J. J. 2022: Spatially explicit risk mapping reveals direct anthropogenic impacts on migratory birds. Global Ecology and Biogeography, 00, 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1111/geb.13551
Fränzi Korner-Nievergelt, Nicolas Strebel, Stephen T. Buckland, Robin Freeman, Richard D. Gregory, Jérôme Guélat, Nick Isaac, Louise Mc Rae, Tobias Roth, Saskia Schirmer, Leo L. Soldaat, Petr Voříšek, Thomas Sattler 2022: Multi-species population indices for sets of species including rare, disappearing or newly occurring species. Ecological Indicators, Volume 140, 109005, ISSN 1470-160X, doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolind.2022.109005
Enya O’Reilly, Richard D. Gregory, Ainars Aunins, Lluís Brotons, Tomasz Chodkiewicz, Virginia Escandell, Ruud P.B. Foppen, Anna Gamero, Sergi Herrando, Frédéric Jiguet, John A. Kålås, Johannes Kamp, Alena Klvaňová, Aleksi Lehikoinen, Åke Lindström, Dario Massimino, Ingar Jostein Øien, Jiří Reif, Eva Šilarová, Norbert Teufelbauer, Sven Trautmann, Chris van Turnhout, Thomas Vikstrøm, Petr Voříšek, Simon J. Butler 2022: An assessment of relative habitat use as a metric for species’ habitat association and degree of specialization. Ecological Indicators, Volume 135, 108521, ISSN 1470-160X, DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolind.2021.108521
2021
Burns F., Eaton M. A., Burfield I. J., Klvaňová A., Šilarová E., Staneva A., Gregory R. D. 2021. Abundance decline in the avifauna of the European Union reveals global similarities in biodiversity change. Ecology and Evolution. https://doi.org/10.1002/ece3.8282
Morrison, C.A., Auniņš, A., Benkő, Z., Brotons, L., Chodkiewicz, T., Chylarecki, P., Escandell, V., Eskildsen, D.P., Gamero, A., Herrando, S., Jiguet, F., Kålås, J.A., Kamp, J., Klvaňová, A., Kmecl, P., Lehikoinen, A., Lindström, Å., Moshøj, C., Noble, D.G., Øien, I.J., Paquet, J-Y., Reif, J., Sattler, T., Seaman, B.S., Teufelbauer, N., Trautmann, S., van Turnhout, C.A.M., Voříšek, P., Butler, S.J.: Bird population declines and species turnover are changing the acoustic properties of spring soundscapes. Nature Communications 2021(12):6217. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-26488-1
Vojtěch Brlík, Eva Šilarová, Jana Škorpilová, Hany Alonso, Marc Anton, Ainars Aunins, Zoltán Benkö, Gilles Biver, Malte Busch, Tomasz Chodkiewicz, Przemysław Chylarecki, Dick Coombes, Elisabetta de Carli, Juan C. del Moral, Antoine Derouaux, Virginia Escandell, Daniel P. Eskildsen, Benoît Fontaine, Ruud P. B. Foppen, Anna Gamero, Richard D. Gregory, Sarah Harris, Sergi Herrando, Iordan Hristov, Magne Husby, Christina Ieronymidou, Frédéric Jiguet, John A. Kålås, Johannes Kamp, Primož Kmecl, Petras Kurlavičius, Aleksi Lehikoinen, Lesley Lewis, Åke Lindström, Aris Manolopoulos, David Martí, Dario Massimino, Charlotte Moshøj, Renno Nellis, David Noble, Alain Paquet, Jean-Yves Paquet, Danae Portolou, Iván Ramírez, Cindy Redel, Jiří Reif, Jozef Ridzoň, Hans Schmid, Benjamin Seaman, Laura Silva, Leo Soldaat, Svetoslav Spasov, Anna Staneva, Tibor Szép, Guido Tellini Florenzano, Norbert Teufelbauer, Sven Trautmann, Tom van der Meij, Arco van Strien, Chris van Turnhout, Glenn Vermeersch, Zdeněk Vermouzek, Thomas Vikstrøm, Petr Voříšek, Anne Weiserbs & Alena Klvaňová (2021): Long-term and large-scale multispecies dataset tracking population changes of common European breeding birds. Sci Data 8, 21. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41597-021-00804-2
Maggini I, Cardinale M, Favaretto A, et al. (2021): Comparing population trend estimates of migratory birds from breeding censuses and capture data at a spring migration bottleneck. Ecol Evol. 11:967–977. DOI: 10.1002/ece3.7110
Morrison Catriona A., Butler Simon J., Robinson Robert A., Clark Jacquie A., Arizaga Juan, Aunins Ainars, Baltà Oriol, Cepák Jaroslav, Chodkiewicz Tomasz, Escandell Virginia, Foppen Ruud P. B., Gregory Richard D., Husby Magne, Jiguet Frédéric, Kålås John Atle, Lehikoinen Aleksi, Lindström Åke, Moshøj Charlotte M., Nagy Károly, Nebot Arantza Leal, Piha Markus, Reif Jiří, Sattler Thomas, Škorpilová Jana, Szép Tibor, Teufelbauer Norbert, Thorup Kasper, van Turnhout Chris, Wenninger Thomas and Gill Jennifer A. (2021) Covariation in population trends and demography reveals targets for conservation action. Proc. R. Soc. B. 288: 20202955. http://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2020.2955
2020
, , , , , . (2020): Disentangling the relative roles of climate and land cover change in driving the long‐term population trends of European migratory birds. Divers Distrib. 00: 1– 14. https://doi.org/10.1111/ddi.13144
McMahon, BJ, Doyle, S, Gray, A, Kelly, SBA, Redpath, SM (2020): European bird declines: Do we need to rethink approaches to the management of abundant generalist predators? J Appl Ecol.; 00: 1– 6. https://doi.org/10.1111/1365-2664.13695
Pellissier, V., Schmucki, R., Pe’er, G., Aunins, A., Brereton, T.M., Brotons, L., Carnicer, J., Chodkiewicz, T., Chylarecki, P., del Moral, J.C., Escandell, V., Evans, D., Foppen, R., Harpke, A., Heliölä, J., Herrando, S., Kuussaari, M., Kühn, E., Lehikoinen, A., Lindström, Å., Moshøj, C.M., Musche, M., Noble, D., Oliver, T.H., Reif, J., Richard, D., Roy, D.B., Schweiger, O., Settele, J., Stefanescu, C., Teufelbauer, N., Touroult, J., Trautmann, S., van Strien, A.J., van Swaay, C.A.M., van Turnhout, C., Vermouzek, Z., Voříšek, P., Jiguet, F. and Julliard, R. (2020): Effects of Natura 2000 on nontarget bird and butterfly species based on citizen science data. Conservation Biology, 34: 666-676. https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.13434
2019
Gregory R.D., Škorpilová J., Voříšek P., Butler S. (2019) An analysis of trends, uncertainty, and species selection shows contrasting trends of widespread forest and farmland birds in Europe. Ecological Indicators 103: 676-687
Heldbjerg, H., Fox, A. D., Lehikoinen, A., Sunde, P., Aunins, A., Balmer, D. E., Calvi, G., Chodkiewicz, T., Chylarecki, P., Escandell, V., Foppen, R., Gamero, A., Hristov, I., Husby, M., Jiguet, F., Kmecl, P., Kålås, J. A., Lewis, L.J., Lindström, Å., Moshøj, C., Nellis, R., Paquet, J-Y., Portolou, D., Ridzon, J., Schmid, H., Škorpilová, J., Szabó, Z. D., Szép, T., Teufelbauer, N., Trautmann, S., van Turnhout, C., Vermouzek, Z., Voříšek, P. & Weiserbs, A. (2019): Contrasting population trends of Common Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) across Europe. Ornis Fennica 96 PDF
Mason, L. R., Green, R. E., Howard C., Stephens, P. A., Willis, S. G., Aunins, A., Brotons, L., Chodkiewicz, T., Chylarecki, P., Escandell, V., Foppen, R. P.B., Herrando, S., Husby, M., Jiguet, F., Kålås, J. A., Lindström, Å., Massimino, D., Moshøj, C., Nellis, R., Paquet, J.-Y., Reif, J., Sirkiä, P. M., Szép, T., Tellini Florenzano, G., Teufelbauer, N., Trautmann, S., van Strien, A., van Turnhout, C. A. M., Voříšek, P. & Gregory, R. D. (2019): Population responses of bird populations to climate change on two continents vary with species’ ecological traits but not with direction of change in climate suitability. Climatic Change. https://10.1007/s10584-019-02549-9.
2017
Gamero, A. et al. (2017): Tracking Progress Toward EU Biodiversity Strategy Targets: EU Policy Effects in Preserving its Common Farmland Birds. Conservation Letters, doi:10.1111/conl.12292. PDF
2016
Stephens, P.A., Mason, L.R., Green, R.E., Gregory, R.D., Sauer, J.R., Alison, J., Aunins, A., Brotons, L., Butchart, S.H.M., Campedelli, T., Chodkiewicz, T., Chylarecki, P., Crowe, O., Elts, J., Escandell, V., Foppen, R.P.B., Heldbjerg, H., Herrando, S., Husby, M., Jiguet, F., Lehikoinen, A., Lindström, Å., Noble, D.G., Paquet,J.Y., Reif,J., Sattler, T., Szép,T., Teufelbauer, N., Trautmann, S., van Strien, A.J., van Turnhout, C.A.M., Vorisek, P., Willis, S.G. (2016): Consistent response of bird populations to climate change on two continents. Science Vol. 352, Issue: 6281, pages 84 – 87. link to the paper
2015
Inger, R., Gregory, R., Duffy, J.P., Stott, I., Voříšek, P. Gaston, K.J. (2015): Common European birds are declining rapidly while less abundant species´ numbers are rising. Ecology Letters 18 (1): 28-36. PDF
Jørgensen, P. S., Böhning-Gaese, K., Thorup, K., Tøttrup, A. P., Chylarecki, P., Jiguet, F., Lehikoinen, A., Noble, D. G., Reif, J., Schmid, H., van Turnhout, C., Burfield, I. J., Foppen, R., Voříšek, P., van Strien, A., Gregory, R. D., Rahbek, C. (2015): Continent-scale global change attribution in European birds – combining annual and decadal time scales. Global Change Biology 22 (2): 530-543(DOI: 10.1111/gcb.13097). PDF
2014
Pe´er, G., Dicks, L.V., Visconti, P., Arlettaz, R., Báldi, A., Benton, T.G., Collins, S., Dieterich, M., Gregory, R.D., Hartig, F., Henle, K., Hobson, P.R., Kleijn, D., Neumann, R.K., Robijns, T., Schmidt, J.A., Schwartz, A., Sutherland, W.J., Turbé, A., Wulf, F. and Scott, A.V. (2014): EU agricultural reform fails on biodiversity. Science 344:1090-1092.
Vickery, J. A., Ewing, S. R., Smith, K. W., Pain, D. J., Bairlein, F., Škorpilová, J. & Gregory, R. D. (2014): The decline of Afro-Palaearctic migrants and an assessment of potential causes. Ibis 156: 1-22. PDF
Wade A.S.I., Barov B., Burfield I.J., Gregory R.D., Norris K., Vorisek, P., Wu, T., Butler, S.J. (2014): A niche-based Framework to Assess Current Monitoring of European Forest Birds and Guide Indicator Species‘ Selection. PLoS ONE9(5): e97217. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0097217. PDF
2013
Norman, D., Peach, W. J. (2013): Density-dependent survival and recruitment in a long-distance Palaearctic migrant, the Sand Martin Riparia riparia. Ibis 155: 284-296. PDF
Wade, A.S.I., Barov, B., Burfield, I.J., Gregory, R.D., Norris, K., Butler, S.J. (2013): Quantifying the Detrimental Impacts of Land-Use and Management Change on European Forest Bird Populations. PLoS ONE 8 (5): e64552. (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0064552). PDF
2011
Ivits, E., Buchanan, G., Olsvig-Whittaker, L., Cherlet, M. (2011): European Farmland Bird Distribution Explained by Remotely Sensed Phenological Indices. Environmental Modeling and Assessment 16 (4): 385-399 (DOI: 10.1007/s10666-011-9251-9). PDF
Scholefield, P., Firbank, L., Butler, S., Norris, K., Jones, L.M., Petit, S. (2011): Modelling the European Farmland Bird Indicator in response to forecast land-use change in Europe. Ecological Indicators 11 (1): 46-51. PDF
2010
Both, C., Van Turnhout, C. A. M., Bijlsma, R. G., Siepel, H., Van Strien, A. J. and Foppen, R. P. B. (2010): Avian population consequences of climate change are most severe for long-distance migrants in seasonal habitats. Proceedings of the Royal Society B 277: 1259-1266 (DOI:10.1098/rspb.2009.1525). PDF
Butchart, S. H. M., Walpole, M., Collen, B., van Strien, A., Scharlemann, J. P. W., Almond, R. E. A., Baillie, J. E. M., Bomhard, B., Brown, C., Bruno, J., Carpenter, K., Carr, G. M., Chanson, J., Chenery, A.M., Csirke, J., Davidson, N.C., Dentener, F., Foster, M., Galli, A., Galloway, J.N., Genovesi P., Gregory, R.D., Hockings, M., Kapos, V., Lamarque, J.-F., Leverington, F., Loh, J., McGeoch, M.A., McRae, L., Minasyan, A., Hernández Morcillo, M., Oldfield, T.E.E., Pauly, D., Quader, S. Revenga, C., Sauer, J.R., Skolnik, B., Spear, D., Stanwell-Smith, D., Stuart, S.N., Symes, A., Tierney, M., Tyrrell, T.D., Vié, J.-C., Watson, R. (2010). Global Biodiversity: Indicators of Recent Declines. Science 328 (5982): 1164-1168 (DOI: 10.1126/science.1187512). PDF + Supporting Online Material
Butler, S.J., Boccaccio, L., Gregory, R.D., Vorisek, P., Norris, K. (2010): Quantifying the impact of land-use change to European farmland bird populations. Agriculture, Ecosystems, and Environment 137: 348-357. PDF
Gregory, R. D., van Strien, A. (2010): Wild bird indicators: using composite population trends of birds as measures of environmental health. Ornithological Science 9 (1): 3-22. PDF
Mace, G.M., Collen, B., Fuller, R.A. and Boakes, E.H. (2010): Population and geographic range dynamics: implications for conservation planning. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B (2010) 365: 3743-3751 (DOI:10.1098/rstb.2010.0264). PDF
Popy, S., Bordignon, L. and Prodon, R. (2010): A weak upward elevational shift in the distributions of breeding birds in the Italian Alps. Journal of Biogeography 37: 57-67. PDF
Voříšek, P., Jiguet, F., van Strien, A., Škorpilová, J., Klvaňová, A. & Gregory, R.D. (2010): Trends in abundance and biomass of widespread European farmland birds: how much have we lost? BOU Proceedings – Lowland Farmland Birds III. PDF
2009
Collen, B., Loh, J., Whitmee, S., McRae, L., Amin, R., Baillie, J.E.M. (2009): Monitoring Change in Vertebrate Abundance: the Living Planet Index. Conservation Biology 23 (2): 317-327. PDF
Gregory R.D., Willis S.G., Jiguet F., Voříšek P., Klvaňová A., van Strien, A., Huntley, B., Collingham, Y.C., Couvet, D., Green, R.E. (2009) An Indicator of the Impact of Climatic Change on European Bird Populations. PLoS ONE 4(3): e4678 (DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0004678). PDF
Jiguet, F., Gregory, R.D., Devictor, V., Green, R.E, Voříšek, P., Van Strien, A. and Couvet, D. (2009): Population trends of European common birds are predicted by characteristics of their climatic niche. Global Change Biology 16(2): 497-505 (DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2486.2009.01963.x). PDF
Klvaňová, A., Voříšek, P., Gregory, R.D., van Strien, A., Gmelig Meyling, A. (2009): Wild birds as indicators in Europe: latest results from the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme (PECBMS). Avocetta 33: 7-12. PDF
2008
Gregory, R. D., Vorisek, P., Noble, D. G., Van Strien, A., Klvaňová, A., Eaton, M., Meyling A. W. G., Joys, A., Foppen, R.P.B., Burfield, I.J. (2008): The generation and use of bird population indicators in Europe. Bird Conservation International 18: S223-S244 (DOI: 10.1017/S0959270908000312). PDF
Møller, A. P. (2008): Flight distance and population trends in European breeding birds. Behavioral Ecology 19 (6): 1095-1102 (DOI: 10.1093/beheco/arn103). PDF
Vorisek, P., Gregory, R.D., Van Strien, A.J. & Gmelig Meyling, A. (2008): Population trends of 48 common terrestrial bird species in Europe: results from the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme. Revista catalana d’ornitologia 24: 4-14. PDF
2007
Gregory, R. D., Vorisek, P., Van Strien, A., Gmelig Meyling, A.W., Jiguet, F., Fornasari, L., Reif, J., Chylarecki, P., Burfield, I.J. (2007): Population trends of widespread woodland birds in Europe. Ibis 149 (Suppl. 2): 78-97. PDF
2005
Gregory, R. D., van Strien, A. J., Vorisek, P., Gmelig Meyling, A. W., Noble, D.G., Foppen, R.P.B. et Gibbons, D.W. (2005): Developing indicators for European birds. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B 360: 269-288. PDF
Reports and book chapters
2024
Carboneras, C., Cruz-Flores, M., Colomer, M.À., Šilarová, E., Škorpilová, J. & Arroyo, B. 2024. Turtle Dove Adaptive Harvest Management mechanism – March 2024 Technical update. Report to the EU Task Force on the Recovery of Birds. Brussels, April 2024.
Herrando S, Fraixedas S, Pocull G, Villero D, Gamero A, Martí D, Keller V, Voříšek P, Klvaňová A, Gargallo G, Brotons L (2024): D5.1 Past-to-present EBV modelled datasets and status indicator for selected species in the Birds Directive. ARPHA Preprints. https://doi.org/10.3897/arphapreprints.e126021
2022
Chris van Turnhout, Szabolcs Nagy, Alena Klvaňová & Marc van Roomen 2022: A comparison of flyway population trends as based on breeding versus winter counts. In: van Roomen M., Citegetse G., Crowe O., Dodman T., Hagemeijer W., Meise K., & Schekkerman H. 2021 (eds). East Atlantic Flyway Assessment 2020. The status of coastal waterbird populations and their sites. Wadden Sea Flyway Initiative p/a CWSS, Wilhelmshaven, Germany, Wetlands International, Wageningen, The Netherlands, BirdLife International, Cambridge, United Kingdom. Read more and download the full report in PDF (Warning: 148 MB!)
2020
State of Europe’s Forests 2020 report. Available at https://foresteurope.org/publications/ PDF
Trends of breeding waterbird populations in Europe based on the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme data, 2020. Wetlands International. PDF. Read more on the report.
L. Paracchini, S. Condé, R. D’Andrimont, B. Eiselt, European Commission, Eurostat, Luxembourg; O. Fernandez Ugalde, E. Gervasini and A. Jones, V. Kovacevic, R. Oppermann, A. Orgiazzi, M. Van der Velde, C. Polce and C. Rega, C. Van Swaay, and P. Voříšek 2020: The challenge of monitoring biodiversity in agricultural landscapes at the EU level. Chapter in: Bárberi, P. and Moonen, A.-C. (ed.) (2020): Reconciling agricultural production with biodiversity conservation. Burleigh Dodds Science Publishing, Cambridge, UK, 2020. ISBN: 978 1 78676 348 8; http://www.bdspublishing.com
BirdLife International 2020: Birds and biodiversity targets: what do birds tell us about progress to the Aichi Targets and requirements for the post-2020 biodiversity framework? A State of the World’s Birds report. Cambridge, UK: BirdLife International. ISBN no. 978-1-912086-67-2
European Court of auditors: Special report 13/2020. Biodiversity on farmland: CAP contribution has not halted the decline. DOI: 10.2865/336742
Global Biodiversity Outlook 5 (GBO-5) 2020, UN Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)
2019
The State of Nature 2019. RSPB, UK. https://www.rspb.org.uk/our-work/state-of-nature-report/
The State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture 2019. United Nations (FAO) report. PDF