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 The ORNIS Data Base
This data base was set up and developed in 1991 by the ORNIS Committee on the initiative of scientific institutions in the European Union. It is an information tool which gathers existing data on the various species of birds in the European Union with the view to ensure the efficient management of populations of the species in accordance with the principles set out in the Directive on Wild Birds. It is managed by the ORNIS Committee, assisted by its Scientific Working Group.

Geographical units

The basic geographical units of the ORNIS Data Base are the regions as defined in the European Union's Political Map and corresponding within each Member State to a defined NUTS level.
In Belgium, Greece, France, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and the United Kingdom, the "regional" level is the Region of the national administrative systems; in Germany it is the Bundesland, in Spain the Autonomous Region. Denmark, Luxembourg and the Netherlands each constitute a single region.
These basic geographical units are the same as those used for the CORINE-Biotopes Data Base. However, the latter contains site-oriented data while ORNIS includes only region-scale background data.

 
wpe3.jpg (28667 bytes) Ireland (9)
United Kingdom
Denmark
Germany
Netherlands
Belgium (3)
Luxembourg
France
Spain
Portugal
Italy
Greece

The data

The data base comprises scientific and technical data on the following :

  • reproduction  (presence or absence, begin and end of the reproduction period, population sizes and trends, habitats) ;
  • migration (presence or absence, begin and end of the migration period, populations sizes and trends, habitats) ;
  • wintering (presence or absence, begin and end of the wintering period, population sizes end trends, habitats, origin);
  • taking (legal hunting period, number of individuals taken, period of legal hunting, illegal hunting, habitats).

Data are collected and entered by the managing institutions. They are validated by one of these institutions, selected on the basis of the geographical origin of the data. They are verified by the ORNIS Committee.

Species

The ORNIS Data Base collects data concerning all species of birds living naturally in the wild on the European territory of the Member States.

Origin of data

  • ornithological periodicals ;
  • handbooks on the bird fauna of Europe.

 Satellite files

Apart from the main files, the ORNIS Data Base also has several satellite files, including a checklist of all birds occurring in the European Union and a list of references.

The ORNIS Committee

Its Scientific Work Group is responsible for the practical developement of the data base. It shows the priorities in data collecting procedure and it participates to the validation of the data, proposed by the seven managing institutions or National Antennas.

The ORNIS Committee takes final decisions in the case of contradictory informations.

It meets at least once a year in order to discuss :

  • problems encountered by the Member States in the implementation of the Directive,
  • possible modifications to the directive according to the evolution of the situation in the field and the progress of scientific and technical knowledge.

Managing Institutions

  1. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique (IRSNB)
    Conservation Biology Section
    29, rue Vautier, B-1000, Brussels
    Tél. : 32-2-627 43 54 /Fax : 32-2-649 48 25
    2. Goulandris Museum
    13, Levidoustreet, Kifissia, G-Athens Tél : 30-1-80 15 870 /Fax : 30-1-80 80 674
    3. Joint Nature Conservation Committee
    Monkswood House, City Road, Peterborough PE1 1JY Tél : 44-733-62 626 /Fax : 44-733-555 948
    4. Ministère de l’Aménagement du territoire et de l’Environnement
    5A, rue de Prague, Luxembourg Tél: 352.478 68 26 /Fax : 352-400 410
    5. Office National de la Chasse
    85bis, avenue de Wagram, F-75017 Paris Tél : 33-1-44 15 17 17 /Fax : 33-1-47 63 79 13
    6. Irish Wildlife Services
    Office of Public Works, 51, St. Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2 Tél : 353-1-661 31 11 / Fax : 353-1-661 07 47
    7. Istituto Nazionale per la Fauna Selvatica
    Via Ca’Fornacetta 9, I-40064 Ozzano dell’Emilia (Bologna) Tél : 39-51-798.746 / Fax : 39-51-796.628