Welcome to the London Bird Club

 
Through our many field meetings and indoor meetings we provide opportunities for our members to develop and extend their their knowledge of London's diverse bird life. These include plenty of events that are suitable for beginners.

For many years we have been collecting and publishing a significant body of information, records and scientific papers about London's birds in our annual London Bird Report.

Many of our members are currently involved in the latest bird mapping project, the London Bird Atlas



       

Bird Portraits

Buzzards (Buteo buteo) can be seen around the periphery of our area. In the London conurbation itself, Kestrels and Sparrowhawks are more familar raptors.	The Jay (Garrulus glandarius), a member of the crow family, is often seen in London gardens where there is enough cover. It eats acorns, and by spreading them around is an agent in the regeneration of secondary oak woodland.	The Chiffchaff (Phylloscopus collybita)vis a summer visitor found typically in open woods and scrubland. It is named after its distinctive song.
The Moorhen (Gallinula chloropus) is a common bird of freshwater margins, easily identified by the red base to its bill.	The Tawny Owl (Strix aluco) is the only Owl that will commonly enter urban areas, and has been recorded throughout our area.	The Hobby (Falco subbuteo) is a summer visitor and passage migrant seen over residential areas, parkland, open countryside and wetland habitats. They catch and eat dragonflies on the wing.

The London Bird Report

This is an annual publication that the Society has produced since 1936, containing all the significant records during the year and various other papers. These papers can be site guides, reports about weather events affecting birds, or more specialist papers. The report is issued free to members of the Society, and can be purchased by non-members. Back copies are available - see our Publications page.

Bulletin of the London Bird Club

The Bulletin, issued quarterly to members with the LNHS Newsletter, gives an update of recent sightings, plus articles by London birders.

Indoor Meetings

The London Bird Club organises a range of indoor meetings and field trips. Our indoor meetings cover a wide variety of topics, including bird identification, historical reviews of sites, and reports of foreign trips. They are listed in our Programme.  

Outdoor Meetings

The Section's field trips range from mornings out in London at sites such as Regent’s Park, to day trips by coach to locations further afield. Most of these are to well-known reserves or other areas of importance for birds. Such areas generally have much of general natural history interest in addition to their birdlife. Write-ups of these trips are regularly published in the Newsletter. We offer plenty of events for beginners, as well and for more experienced birders - these are listed our Programme. 

 

Reading Circle

We also organise an ornithological Reading circle that circulates a series of magazines to members at reduced subscriptions.

Bird Recording

All records of ornithological interest, from LNHS members and non-members alike, are welcomed by the Society's Ornithological Records Committee. However, with an ever-growing number of active birdwatchers in the London Area, it seems sensible to issue a guide to our requirements: the Checklist and Guide (PDF or spreadsheet) is the checklist of birds of the London Area in 2010 and a guide for contributors of ornithological records. Breeding criteria are included on page 10 of the PDF file. This guide is not intended to be comprehensive, and contributors are asked to use their own guidance and common sense, but it does serve as a reference point for the type of records required.

Please download and save the LNHS Bird Recording Form and use it to email records to LNHS bird recorders. The first line of the spreadsheet has been completed as an example.  

The geographical area that we cover is divided into seven bird recording areas, or 'sectors'. (The boundaries of the sectors are more or less based on the original county boundaries). 'Inner London' consists of a rectangle based on Charing Cross. See Why collect records? for more information.