The initiative has served to give continuity to the Noctua, Paser and Migration bird monitoring programs during 2012, plans launched by the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife).

The initiative has served to give continuity to the Noctua, Paser and Migration bird monitoring programs during 2012, plans launched by the Spanish Ornithological Society (SEO/BirdLife).

In 1995 SEO/BirdLife launched the first long-term bird monitoring programme, with the aim of establishing a standardised bird monitoring system, which would allow the distribution, abundance and trend of the different species of common birds in Spain to be known throughout the year.

These data are necessary to determine their state of conservation, update the Spanish Inventory of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity and establish annually the population evolution indices requested from the member states of the European Union and committed to in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD).

SEO/BirdLife launched the Paser program in 1995 to study the trend in the productivity of breeding populations, through ringing in stations of constant effort. In 1997 he initiated the Noctua plan, for the monitoring of nocturnal birds. Since then, new programs have been added to this tracking system. In 2011, the Migration program was born to describe the movements of birds, their migratory routes and their wintering areas.

In 2012, the follow-up work carried out within the framework of these three programmes continued, covering the entire Spanish territory carried out mainly by volunteers.

Information on population trends for nocturnal birds and trends in the productivity of common birds has been updated. In both cases, data from more than ten years are available. In addition, the movements of birds, specifically the red kite, have continued to be studied.

The specific objectives of the project have been:

• Manage and maintain a network of volunteers that contributes to the fieldwork for the monitoring of nocturnal birds of the Noctua program.
• Sample a minimum number of UTM 10×10 km grids, which ensures good coverage of the territory.
• To obtain the trends of nocturnal birds in Spain updated with the information of the year 2012.
• To update the atlas of breeding birds in Spain, and therefore the Spanish Inventory of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, with the information on nocturnal birds corresponding to 2012.
• Manage and maintain a network of volunteer ringers, which contributes to the performance of fieldwork in stations of constant effort.
• Sample at a minimum of constant stress stations according to the Paser program methodology.
• To obtain the productivity trends of common breeding birds in Spain updated with information from 2012.
• Update the atlas of breeding birds in Spain, and therefore the Spanish Inventory of Natural Heritage and Biodiversity, with the information on common birds obtained at the ringing stations in 2012.
• To study the movements and migration of their breeding, wintering and resting areas during the migration of an endangered species in Spain: the red kite.
• To disseminate the movements of the red kite to raise awareness among the general public about its conservation status.