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Welsh Ornithological Society

What We Do

The Welsh Ornithological Society is a registered charity with a growing membership of around 400 individual, family and Young Birder members. It is governed by a Constitution and a Council of Trustees. The Society holds its Annual General Meeting in early November, as a precursor to the annual national conference. The Trustees on Council are responsible for running the Society and they are drawn from all over Wales, with a variety of different interests and experience in birds and their conservation. The Society’s priorities are guided by a five year strategy, most recently updated in 2020.

The Constitution, five year strategy, approved minutes of Annual General Meetings, annual accounts, and minutes of Council meetings can found on the WOS Council page.

WOS is the national body to unify birdwatchers and ornithologists across the whole of Wales. As the only solely Welsh-based organisation to do so, we actively support bird conservation in Wales, by funding research and encouraging publication of papers and articles related to birds in Wales. WOS represents affiliated local and county bird clubs and groups with the country agencies and Welsh Government to help conserve birds in Wales. We encourage students to present their ornithological studies to a wider body of birders with an annual Student Award.

The Welsh Birds Rarities Committee (WBRC) is a sub-committee of WOS Council and reports to it. The WBRC is charged with maintaining the Welsh bird list and for producing an annual report of accepted rare birds in Wales.

Five of the most evident outputs from the WOS each year are:

  • an annual national conference; 
  • its three journals –  Milvus (formerly Birds in Wales), the annual Welsh Bird Report and the annual Scarce and Rare Birds in Wales report;
  • grants for research and fieldwork: a Small Grant scheme and WOS Young Conservationist Bursaries;
  • an annual bird photography competition and
  • two main annual awards: the Lifetime Achievement Award and the Derek Moore Student Research Award. Both of these awards are presented at the Annual Conference.

WOS encourages the monitoring and recording of birds in Wales, and the submission and compilation of these records at a vice-county level. These are brought together annually in the Welsh Bird Report. WOS also encourages birdwatchers in Wales to record their sightings using BirdTrack, of which WOS is a partner, and to participate in BTO and RSPB research projects.

WOS celebrated its 30th anniversary in 2019 and to mark this milestone, the Society has produced a new Birds of Wales, which was published in July 2021 and voted one of the ten best bird books of the year by the BTO/BB panel.

WOS does not provide a daily bird sightings service, but check the relevant county on the Counties and Map page for details in a particular area.

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