BREEDING
BIRD SURVEY
HABITAT RECORDING FORM
Please do not write in shaded boxes____Obs. code

Grid reference

Name______

Transectsection

1Please use block capitals
Mr/Mrs/Ms

2Date(ddmmyy)______County code eg GBNY (actual county, not BTO region )First habitat

Second habitat

Levels:Levels:

3

4

1

2____

3

4

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
910
Please only give details of the two most important habitats – do not squeeze in a third! Each box should containeither one letter (A to J) or one number (1 to 16)
TransectsectionFirst habitat
Levels:
1 2
34Second habitat
Levels:1 2
34

If there was major habitat change
between your early and late visits,
please record these changes in thebox above.

Please draw two lines (numbered 1-5 and6-10) on this map of the square to show
your transect routes, and mark on any
useful landscape features.
Scale - 2cm = 200m

If you are not submitting your data electronically using BBS-Online, please return allcompleted forms to your Regional Organiser (or to the Nunnery if you do not have an RO)

BTO HABITAT CODING SCHEMELEVEL 1LEVEL 2A WOODLAND 1 Broadleaved
2 Coniferous
3 Mixed(10% of each)
4 Broadleaved
water-logged
5 Coniferous
water-logged
6 Mixedwater-logged

1234567

B SCRUBLAND 1(or youngwoodland<5m tall)234567C SEMI1
NATURALGRASSLAND 2/MARSH
3456789

LEVEL 4*LEVEL 1

Dense shrub
layer
Moderateshrub layer
Sparse shrub
layer
Dense fieldlayer
Moderate fieldlayer
Sparse fieldlayer
Grazed(moderate toheavy)Lightly grazed
Dead woodpresent
10 Dead woodabsentE FARMLANDLEVEL 3

Regenerating
natural orsemi-naturalwoodland
Downland(chalk)Heath scrub
YoungcoppiceNew
plantation
Clear-felledwoodlandwith or without newsaplings
Other

8High-medium
disturbancefrom people
Low disturbance9

Near road (within 50m)

12
3

Broadleaved
Coniferous
Mixed(10% of each)
Broadleaved
swamp scrub
Coniferous
swamp scrub
Mixedswamp scrub

456
7
89

Chalk
downland
Grass moor
(unenclosed)
Grass moor
mixed withheather(unenclosed)
Machair
Other drygrassland
Watermeadow/grazing marsh
Reed swamp
Other openmarsh
Saltmarsh

Mixed-aged or 1
semi-natural
Coppice with2standards
Coppice3
without standards
Mature planta- 4
tion (tallerthan 10m, with 5
closed canopy)
Young planta6
tion (5-10m,open canopy)
7
Parkland(scatteredtrees and8
grassy areas)
9

1
2
3

High-medium
disturbancefrom peopleLowdisturbance
Near road(within 50m)
Hedgerowwith trees
Hedgerow
without trees
Tree-line
without hedge

4

Other fieldboundary (wall,ditch, etc.)

5Isolated groupof 1-10 trees

6

No field boundary

7

Montane8High-medium
disturbancefrom peopleLowdisturbance

9F HUMAN
SITES

1Predominantly
tall (3-5m)
2 Predominantly
low (1-3m)
3 Dense shrublayer
4 Moderate
shrub layer
5 Sparse
shrub layer
6 Extensive
bracken
7 Dense field layer
8 Moderate
field layer
9 Sparse field layer
10 Grazed(moderateto heavy)
1234
56
7
8
9

1
2
34
56
78

Ungrazed
CattleSheep
Horses
Rabbits
Deer
Other grazers
Extensive
brackenHay

1 Improved
1grassland
2 Unimproved 2grassland
3 Mixed grass/ 3tilled land4 Tilled land
5 Orchard
46 Other farming

1 Urban
2 Suburban
3 RuralHedgerow withtrees
Hedgerow
without trees
Tree-line
without hedge
Other fieldboundary (wall,ditch, etc.)

5Isolated groupof trees

6Farmyard(active)

7

Near road(within 50m)

8

No fieldboundary

123Building
Gardens
Municipal parks/
mown grass/golf courses/
recreationalareas
Sewage works"urban"Near active
railway line(within 50m)

7
8

Other
Rubbish tip

12
3
4
5

Industrial
Residential
Well-wooded
Not well-wooded
Area of largegardens
6 Area of medium
gardens
7 Area of small
gardens
8 Many shrubs
9 Few shrubs
10 Disused

Undisturbed/
1
disusedWater sports
2(sailing etc)
Angling(coarse or game) 3
Coarse angling
Game fishing4
Industrial
activity
Sewage5
processing‘rural'6
Other
7
disturbance8
9Small island
10

Eutrophic(green water)
Oligotrophic(clear water,few weeds)
Dystrophic(black water)
Marl (clearwater, large
water-weeds)
Slow-medium
runningFast-running
DredgedUndredged
Banks cleared
Banksvegetated

H COASTAL

1

Cliff vertical/
steeply sloping
DuneFlat/gently sloping
Small island
Spit
Dune slack
Sloping ground
Undisturbed
Disturbed

INLAND
ROCK

123
4
5
6
7

Marine open shore
Marine shore inlet/cove/lochEstuarine
Brackishlagoon
Open sea1234

Mud or silt
SandShingle
Rocky

56

Fully vegetatedSparse/medium
vegetation

78Inter-tidal
Below lowwater mark

Cliff
Scree/boulder
slope
Limestone
pavement
Other rockoutcrop
QuarryMine/spoil/slag heap
Cave

12

ActiveDisused3
4

MontaneNon-montane

5High
disturbancefrom climbers/walkers etc.
MediumdisturbanceLow disturbance

67Near road (within 50m)
J MISCELLANEOUS* Shrub layer comprises woody plants less than 5m tall. Field layer comprises herbaceous, non-woody plants.

N.B. Level 3 codes within each group are mutually exclusive. Groups are separated by a space
1203

UngrazedCattle
SheepHorses
Other stock
Bare earth/plough
Autumn cereal
Spring cereal
Root crops(specify)
10 Other crops(specify)
11 Oil seed rape
12 Other brassicas(specify)
13 Stubble (clean)
14 Stubble (weedy)
15 Unsown/Fallow
16 Recently cut grass

Pond (less1than 50m2)
Small2water-body23(50-450m )3 Lake/unlined
reservoir
44 Lined
5reservoir
65 Gravel pit,
sand pit, etc
76 Stream (lessthan 3m wide)
7 River (more8than 3m wide)
8 Ditch withwater (less9than 2m wide)
9 Small canal(2-5m wide)
10 Large canal (morethan 5m wide)I

Isolated groupof 1-10 trees
Disturbancefrom people
11 Low disturbance625

9Near road(within 50m)

123
4
5
6
7
8
9

134Montane
1 Ungrazed
Raised bog
2 Cattle
Valley/3 Sheepbasin bog
4 HorsesBlanket bog
5 Rabbits
Heath mixed
6 Deerwith rough grass 7 Other grazers
Heath
8 Ploughed
without grass
9 Burned
Heath with10 Planted withextensive bracken
saplings lessUndetermined bog
than 0.5m tall

5LEVEL 4*

G WATERBODIES(freshwater)

2

1012LEVEL 3

4

10 Near road (within 50m)
D HEATHLAND 1 Dry heath
AND BOGS 2 Wet heath3 Mixedheath
4 Bog
5 Breckland
6 Drained bog
7 Bare peat

LEVEL 2123
4567
891234Bare rockLow vegetation
present (mosses,liverworts, etc)
Grasses presentScrub present