 | |
| Formation | 1889 (1889),Fletcher Moss Botanical Garden,Manchester |
|---|---|
| Type | Conservationcharity |
| Headquarters | The Lodge, Sandy, Bedfordshire, England 2 Lochside View, Edinburgh, Scotland |
Area served | United Kingdom |
President | Dr Amir Khan |
Key people |
|
| Revenue |  £157.7 millionGBP (2022) |
| Staff | 2,231 (2022) |
| Volunteers | 10,500 (2022) |
| Website | rspb |
TheRoyal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is acharitable organisation registered inEngland and Wales[1] and inScotland.[2] It was founded in 1889. It works to promoteconservation and protection ofbirds and the widerenvironment through public awareness campaigns,petitions and through the operation ofnature reserves throughout the United Kingdom.[3]
In 2021/22 the RSPB had revenue of £157 million, 2,200 employees, 10,500 volunteers and 1.1 million members (including 195,000 youth members), making it one of the world's largest wildlife conservation organisations.[4] The RSPB has many local groups and maintains 222 nature reserves.
The origins of the RSPB lie with two groups of women, both formed in 1889:
The groups gained in popularity and amalgamated in 1891 to form the Society for the Protection of Birds in London.[8] The Society gained its Royal Charter in 1904.[9]
The original members of the SPB were all women[10] who campaigned against the fashion of the time for women to wear exotic feathers in hats, and the consequent encouragement of "plume hunting". To this end the Society had two simple rules:[8]
- That Members shall discourage the wanton destruction of Birds, and interest themselves generally in their protection
- That Lady-Members shall refrain from wearing the feathers of any bird not killed for purposes of food, the ostrich only excepted.
At the time of founding, the trade in plumage for use in hats was very large: in the first quarter of 1884, almost 7,000bird-of-paradise skins were being imported to Britain, along with 400,000 birds fromWest India andBrazil, and 360,000 birds fromEast India.[11]
In 1890, the society published its first leaflet, entitledDestruction of Ornamental-Plumaged Birds,[12] aimed at saving theegret population by informing wealthy women of the environmental damage wrought by the use of feathers in fashion. A later 1897 publication,Bird Food in Winter,[13] aimed to address the use of berries as winter decoration and encouraged the use of synthetic berries to preserve the birds food source. In 1897 the SPB distributed over 16,000 letters and 50,000 leaflets and by 1898 had 20,000 members.[14]
The Society attracted support from some women of high social standing who belonged to the social classes that popularised the wearing of feathered hats, including theDuchess of Portland (who became the Society's first President) and theRanee of Sarawak. As the organisation began to attract the support of many other influential figures, both male and female, such as theornithologist ProfessorAlfred Newton, it gained in popularity and attracted many new members. The society received aRoyal Charter in 1904[8] fromEdward VII, just 15 years after its founding, and was instrumental in petitioning theParliament of the United Kingdom to introduce laws banning the use ofplumage in clothing.[6]
At the time that the Society was founded in Britain, similar societies were also founded in other European countries.[15][which?] In 1961, the society acquiredThe Lodge inSandy, Bedfordshire, as its new headquarters.[6] The RSPB's logo depicts anavocet. The first version was designed byRobert Gillmor.[16]
_(cropped).jpg)
Today, the RSPB works with both thecivil service and theGovernment to advise Government policies on conservation andenvironmentalism.[17] It is one of several organisations that determine the officialconservation status list for all birds found in the UK.
The RSPB does not run bird hospitals nor offer animal rescue services.[18]
The RSPB entered into a partnership with UK housebuilder Barratt Developments in 2014.
The RSPB maintains over200 reserves throughout the United Kingdom, covering a wide range ofhabitats, fromestuaries andmudflats toforests andurban habitats.[19] The reserves often havebird hides provided forbirdwatchers and many providevisitor centres, which include information about the wildlife that can be seen there.[20]
The RSPB confers awards, including the President's Award, for volunteers who make a notable contribution to the work of the society.
According to the RSPB:
The RSPB Medal is the Society's most prestigious award. It is presented to an individual in recognition of wild bird protection and countryside conservation. It is usually awarded annually to one or occasionally two people.[21]
The RSPB has published a members-only magazine for over a century.
 Cover of Autumn 1946 issue ofBird Notes, Vol. 23, No. 3 | |
| Discipline | Ornithology |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publication details | |
| History | 1903 (1903)–1966 |
| Publisher | RSPB (United Kingdom) |
| Standard abbreviations ISO 4 (alt) · Bluebook (alt) NLM (alt) · MathSciNet (alt  ) | |
| ISO 4 | Bird Notes |
| Indexing CODEN (alt · alt2) · JSTOR (alt) · LCCN (alt) MIAR · NLM (alt) · Scopus · W&L | |
| ISSN | 0406-3392 |
Bird Notes and News (ISSN 0406-3392) was first published in April 1903.
The title changed toBird Notes in 1947. In the 1950s, there were four copies per year (one for each season, published on the 1st of each third month, March, June, September and December). Each volume covered two years, spread over three calendar years. For example, volume XXV (25), number one was dated Winter 1951, and number eight in the same volume was dated Autumn 1953.
From the mid-1950s, many of the covers were byCharles Tunnicliffe. Two of the originals are on long-term loan to the Tunnicliffe gallery atOriel Ynys Môn, but in 1995 the RSPB sold 114 at aSotheby's auction, raising £210,000, the most expensive being a picture of a partridge which sold for £6,440.[22]
From January 1964 (vol. 31, no. 1), publication increased to six per year, (issued in the odd-numbered months, January, March and so on, but dated "January–February", "March–April", etc.). Volumes again covered two years, so vol. 30, covering 1962–63, therefore included nine issues, ending with the "Winter 1963–64" edition instead of eight. The final edition, vol. 31 no. 12, was published in late 1965.
 |
| Discipline | Ornithology |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Mark Ward |
| Publication details | |
| History | 1966 (1966)–2013 (2013) |
| Publisher | RSPB (United Kingdom) |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Standard abbreviations ISO 4 (alt) · Bluebook (alt) NLM (alt) · MathSciNet (alt ) | |
| ISO 4 | Birds |
| Indexing CODEN (alt · alt2) · JSTOR (alt) · LCCN (alt) MIAR · NLM (alt) · Scopus · W&L | |
| ISSN | 1367-983X |
| Links | |
Bird Notes' successorBirds (ISSN 1367-983X) replaced it immediately, with volume 1, number 1 being the January–February 1966 edition. Issues were published quarterly, numbered so that a new volume started every other year.
The Autumn 2013 edition, dated August–October 2013, being vol. 25 no. 7, was the last.[23]
| Discipline | Ornithology |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Edited by | Mark Ward |
| Publication details | |
| History | 2013 (2013)–present |
| Publisher | RSPB (United Kingdom) |
| Frequency | Quarterly |
| Standard abbreviations ISO 4 (alt) · Bluebook (alt) NLM (alt) · MathSciNet (alt ) | |
| ISO 4 | Nat.'s Home |
| Indexing CODEN (alt · alt2) · JSTOR (alt) · LCCN (alt) MIAR · NLM (alt) · Scopus · W&L | |
| ISSN | 2054-3433 |
| Links | |
In Winter 2013Birds was replaced by a new magazine,Nature's Home. The editor was Mark Ward. The magazine had an ABC-certified circulation of 600,885.[24]
With the Summer/Autumn 2022 issue, the magazine has been re-titled.
The RSPB has two separate groups for children and teenagers: Wildlife Explorers (founded in 1943 as the Junior Bird Recorders' Club; from 1965 to 2000 the YoungOrnithologists' Club or YOC[6]) and RSPB Phoenix. Wildlife Explorers is targeted at children aged between 8 and 12, although it also has some younger members,[25] and has two different magazines:Wild Times for 0–7-year-olds, andWild Explorer for 8–12-year-olds. RSPB Phoenix is aimed at teenagers, and producesWingbeat magazine, which is primarily written by young people for young people.[26] The RSPB is a member of TheNational Council for Voluntary Youth Services.[27]
RSPB organises bird record data collection in annual collective birdwatching days in Britain. The RSPB describes this as the "world's biggest wildlife survey" and helps inform conservationists to gain a better knowledge on bird population trends in gardens in Britain.[28] The Big Garden Birdwatch was launched as a children's activity in 1979, but from 2001 it encouraged adults to partake as well. In 2011, over 600,000 people took part, only 37% of whom were RSPB members. This event usually takes place in the last weekend of January. From the start of this annual survey records forhouse sparrows showed a decline of 60%, whilestarling populations declined by about 80% from 1979 to 2012.[28]
In 2022, nearly 700,000 people took part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, counting more than 11 billion birds.[29]
BirdTrack is an onlinecitizen science website, operated by theBritish Trust for Ornithology (BTO) on behalf of a partnership of the BTO, the RSPB,BirdWatch Ireland, theScottish Ornithologists' Club and theWelsh Ornithological Society (Welsh:Cymdeithas Adaryddol Cymru).[30][31]
The RSPB is funded primarily by its members; in 2006, over 50% of the society's £88 million income came fromsubscriptions,donations andlegacies, worth a total of £53.669 million.[32] As aregistered charity, the organisation is entitled togift aid worth an extra £0.25 on every £1.00 donated byincome tax payers.[33] The bulk of the income (£63.757 million in 2006) is spent on conservation projects, maintenance of the reserves and on education projects, with the rest going on fundraising efforts and reducing the pension deficit, worth £19.8 million in 2006.
It was reported in an article inThe Daily Mail on 2 November 2014 that claims that the charity "was spending 90 per cent of its income on conservation" by theUK Advertising Standards Authority were incorrect. The article claimed that the true figure was closer to 26%. TheCharity Commission investigated the claims, and contacted the RSPB to get it to clarify its web statement. The RSPB complied, with the clarification that 90% of its net income (after expenses, not gross income as received) was spent on conservation, and that conservation activities were diverse, not limited to spending on its own nature reserves. This was accepted by the Charity Commission.[34]
%2c_6th_Duchess_of_Portland%2c_1912.jpg)
Over time, the organisation'schief officers have been given different titles.[6][36]
The RSPB is a member ofWildlife and Countryside Link.[40] The RSPB is the UK Partner ofBirdLife International[41] and manages theSouth Atlantic Invasive Species Project on behalf of the partner governments.
European birding magazines | |
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