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Location Privacy for Sensitive and Breeding Species
Location Privacy for Sensitive and Breeding Species

Protecting vulnerable and breeding birds by hiding their location

Sarah Cunningham avatar
Written by Sarah Cunningham
Updated over a week ago

The disturbance of any birds, especially those that are nesting birds, should be avoided at all cost. If you are in any doubt as to whether you should post a sighting of a vulnerable or breeding species then please always err on the side of caution and ensure that the sighting/sesson has Location Privacy set to 'Only you'.

Birda is in the process of developing functionality to automatically hide the location for sightings of vulnerable bird species. While this functionality is being built, we encourage users to hide the location (read how to to this) of these species manually prior to posting the sighting.

United Kingdom - Schedule 1 species list:

Certain species are protected by law under the Countryside Act 1981 known as Schedule 1. In the UK, these birds and their young are protected by law from the intentional or reckless disturbance at, on or near an 'active' nest.

Avocet

Bee-eater

Bittern

Bittern, Little

Bluethroat

Brambling

Bunting, Cirl

Bunting, Lapland

Bunting, Snow

Buzzard, Honey

Capercaillie (in Scotland)

Chough

Corncrake

Crake, Spotted

Crossbill (all species)

Diver (all species)

Dotterel

Duck, Long-tailed

Eagle, Golden

Eagle, White-tailed

Fieldfare

Firecrest

Garganey

Godwit, Black-tailed

Goshawk

Gyrfalcon

Grebe, Black-necked

Grebe, Slavonian

Greenshank

Gull, Little

Gull, Mediterranean

Harriers (all species)

Heron, Purple

Hobby

Hoopoe

Kingfisher

Kite, Red

Merlin

Oriole, Golden

Osprey

Owl, Barn

Owl, Snowy

Peregrine

Petrel, Leach’s

Phalarope, Red-necked

Plover, Kentish

Plover, Little Ringed

Quail, Common

Redstart, Black

Redwing

Rosefinch, Scarlet

Ruff

Sandpiper, Green

Sandpiper, Purple

Sandpiper, Wood

Scaup

Scoter, Common

Scoter, Velvet

Serin

Shorelark

Shrike, Red-backed

Spoonbill

Stilt, Black-winged

Stint, Temminck’s

Stone Curlew

Swan, Bewick’s

Swan, Whooper

Tern, Black

Tern, Little

Tern, Roseate

Tit, Bearded

Tit, Crested

Treecreeper, Short-toed

Warbler, Cetti’s

Warbler, Dartford

Warbler, Marsh

Warbler, Savi’s

Whimbrel

Woodlark

Wryneck

In the UK the Rare Breeding Bird Panel release a annual report on the success of many rare breeding birds. Their website contains a comprehensive list of species they currently consider to be 'rare' enough to be included: https://rbbp.org.uk/. If you are luckily enough to see any of these species during the breeding season please hide the location in the Birda app before posting them (read how to to this here).

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