A classic example of citizen science, the North-East Scotland Bird Report (NESBR) has been published since 1974, initially by students at Aberdeen University’s Dept. of Zoology, and has evolved from a typewritten, photocopied booklet, into a professionally printed, full-colour publication, comprising 170 pages in the current issue - NESBR 2019.
Contents include a systematic list of bird species recorded in the year, together with numerous articles on breeding, ringing, rarities etc. and generously illustrated with photographs, artwork and charts. Since NESBR 2017, there are also sections on Mammals and Amphibians & Reptiles.
Community involvement in NESBR continues to rise exponentially – in excess of 91,000 individual records from more than 420 named contributors were submitted, an increase of c.30% and c.40% respectively over the previous year, before being processed, compiled and subsequently pulled together for publication by the Editor and a supporting cast.
All involved give of their time freely to produce what is not only a much-anticipated annual event amongst many birders but also acts as an important source of data to conservation agencies, scientists, educators, businesses etc in support of their work.
