Ring ouzel national sample survey in the UK in 1999

This is the first co-ordinated census of breeding ring ouzel <I>Turdus torquata</I> across the UK. A random subsample of the UK breeding range was surveyed to arrive at a population estimate, and as such the dataset does NOT contain all breeding locations of ring ouzel in the UK in 1999. Of the tetrads surveyed that were known to be occupied during the 1988-91 breeding bird atlas, 39-43% were unoccupied in 1999. The survey highlights a continuing contraction in range. The survey was run as part of the Statutory Conservation Agencies and RSPB Annual Breeding Birds Scheme (SCARABBS) and was funded jointly by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), the Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), English Nature (now Natural England) and Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH). The Ring Ouzel Study Group took part in the survey, and many landowners and site managers allowed access to their land.