Common bird index (EU aggregate)

The indicator is an index and integrates the population abundance and the diversity of a selection of common bird species associated with specific habitats. Each of the three EU aggregate indices (i.e. common farmland birds, common forest birds and all common birds) is a composite, multispecies index calculated using Monte Carlo simulations as described in Soldaat et al. (2017) and an R-script developed by Statistics Netherlands (2017). This indicator presents the unsmoothed estimate. No rare species are included, although some species common in certain Member States may be considered rare in others. The species covered under the common farmland and common forest indices are deemed to be dependent on that particular kind of habitat for feeding and nesting. The list of species is available in the annex under "EU list of all common bird species". When counting the birds in the wild, countries record the observations in different ways. For the analysis done by the EBCC, the results have to be processed according to the minimum standard common to all countries. For more information on the use of bird population data as a general indicator of environmental status, read '<a href="https://www.ebcc.info/921-revision-v1/" target="_blank">Use of outputs generated by Pan-Europe common bird monitoring scheme</a>'.