Around fifteen thousand fieldworkers annually count breeding birds using standardized protocols in 28 European countries. The observations are collected by using country-specific and standardized protocols, validated, summarized and finally used for the production of continent-wide annual and long-term indices of population size changes of 170 species. Here, we present the database and provide a detailed summary of the methodology used for fieldwork and calculation of the relative population size change estimates. We also provide a brief overview of how the data are used in research, conservation and policy. We believe this unique database, based on decades of bird monitoring alongside the comprehensive summary of its methodology, will facilitate and encourage further use of the Pan-European Common Bird Monitoring Scheme results.

Aves Natagora Namur Belgium

BirdLife Austria Vienna Austria

BirdLife Cyprus Nicosia Cyprus

Birdlife Estonia Estonian Ornithological Society Tartu Estonia

BirdLife International Cambridge United Kingdom

BirdLife Norway Trondheim Norway

BirdWatch Ireland on behalf of the National Parks and Wildlife Service Kilcoole Republic of Ireland

British Trust for Ornithology Thetford United Kingdom

Bulgarian Society for the Protection of Birds BirdLife Bulgaria Sofia Bulgaria

Catalan Ornithological Institute Natural History Museum of Barcelona Barcelona Spain

Centrale ornithologique natur and ëmwelt a s b l Kockelscheuer Luxembourg

Czech Academy of Sciences Institute of Vertebrate Biology Brno Czechia

Czech Society for Ornithology Prague Czechia

Dachverband Deutscher Avifaunisten Muenster Germany

Department of Animal Ecology and Ecophysiology Institute for Water and Wetland Research Radboud University Nijmegen The Netherlands

Department of Biology Lund University Lund Sweden

Department of Conservation Biology University of Göttingen Göttingen Germany

Department of Ecology Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czechia

Department of Genetics Evolution and Environment Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research University College London London United Kingdom

Department of Zoology and Animal Ecology Faculty of Biology University of Latvia Riga Latvia

Department of Zoology Faculty of Science Palacky University Olomouc Czechia

DOF BirdLife Denmark Copenhagen Denmark

DOPPS BirdLife Slovenia Ljubljana Slovenia

Evolutionary Ecology Group Hungarian Department of Biology and Ecology Babeş Bolyai University Cluj Napoca Romania

Hellenic Ornithological Society Athens Greece

INBO Brussels Belgium

Institute for Environmental Studies Faculty of Science Charles University Prague Czechia

Institute of Environmental Sciences University of Nyíregyháza Nyíregyháza Hungary

Latvian Ornithological Society Riga Latvia

LIPU BirdLife Italia Parma Italy

Lithuanian Ornithological Society Vilnius Lithuania

Ministère de l'Environnement du Climat et du Développement durable Luxembourg Luxembourg

MITO2000 Parma Italy

MME BirdLife Budapest Hungary

Museum and Institute of Zoology Polish Academy of Sciences Warszawa Poland

Norwegian Institute for Nature Research Trondheim Norway

Polish Society for the Protection of Birds Marki Poland

Portuguese Society for the Study of Birds Lisbon Portugal

Romanian Ornithological Society Cluj Napoca Romania

RSPB Centre for Conservation Science Sandy United Kingdom

Section of Science Nord University Levanger Norway

SEO BirdLife Madrid Spain

Slovak Ornithological Society BirdLife Slovakia Bratislava Slovak Republic

Sovon Dutch Centre for Field Ornithology Nijmegen The Netherlands

Statistics Netherlands The Hague The Netherlands

Swiss Ornithological Institute Sempach Switzerland

The Finnish Museum of Natural History University of Helsinki Helsinki Finland

UMR7204 CESCO MNHN CNRS SU Paris France

Vytautas Magnus University Kaunas Lithuania

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Drivers of the changing abundance of European birds at two spatial scales

Farmland practices are driving bird population decline across Europe

Abundance decline in the avifauna of the European Union reveals cross-continental similarities in biodiversity change

Bird population declines and species turnover are changing the acoustic properties of spring soundscapes

Long-term and large-scale multispecies dataset tracking population changes of common European breeding birds