Falklands Conservation

Falkland Islands Breeding Birds Survey

Falklands Conservation initiated its second survey of breeding birds of the Islands in Stanley on 15 November 2005. Robin Woods (who lead the first survey and is author of the subsequent Atlas of Breeding Birds of the Falkland Islands) launched this major project at a meeting of volunteers who will be helping to carry out some of the essential fieldwork.

The survey aims to cover all 255 10km squares, which make up the land area of the Falkland Islands and the 780 offshore islands. It is an ambitious target, which will mirror the first survey carried out between 1983-1993. This time the survey is expected to take five years to complete. Relatively little is still known about the distribution of many birds around the Falklands. This work will result in up to date basic information on the distribution and populations of the 67 bird species known to breed in the Falklands and provide an invaluable comparison with data obtained from the first survey.

The blackish oystercatcher occurs in small groups on beaches all around the coast.

The long-tailed meadowlark, known locally as a robin, is widespread across
both East and West Falkland and most of the larger offshore islands.

As breeding Falkland birds both species will be included in this survey.

Robin Woods said at the launch - ‘Several key aspects affecting the Falklands environment have changed since the previous survey and we want to understand the effect of these changes on the birds and apply this knowledge to ensure their protection for the future’.

Falklands Conservation gratefully acknowledges funding support for the Survey provided by the Overseas Territories Environmental Programme of the UK Foreign & Commonwealth Office.

Breeding Bird Survey information, map and survey form (267kb PDF file - 1min at 56k)

Falklands Conservation UK Charity 1073859
Patron: HRH The Duke of York CVO ADC
Member of the International Union for Conservation of Nature | BirdLife International Representative