
31 March 2026
-
2 April 2026
IN-PERSON (INTERNATIONAL)
UNIVERSITY OF NOTTINGHAM, UK & ZOOM & BLUESKY
VENUE
Birds and people: challenges and opportunities of coexistence
Aims and scope
Relationships between birds and people are manifold. Positively, bird species survival can be assisted by people – the crucial conservation of species and their habitats demands people’s skills, time and money – while people can also be helped by birds, for example through pest control, or by providing the health and wellbeing benefits of nature connection gained through watching, feeding or listening to birds. However, there are also negative relationships as birds can cause damage to human resources, for example, crops, livestock and transport, plus people harm birds, for example through spreading disease, hunting and recreational disturbance. With climatic, political and economic pressures changing the environment for both birds and people throughout the world, it is crucial that we understand more about how to navigate these relationships for the benefit of all. In this conference, we examine the complexities of the relationships between birds and people to understand more about how birds and people can live together. We will provide an optimistic note for the future of birds and their people by hearing about recent conservation successes while learning more about the current anthropogenic threats they face. We will hear about the latest science on minimising the challenges birds may pose to human interests and maximising the benefits they provide. By drawing on science and research from around the world, the conference aims to provide an insightful look into bird-people relationships and provide inspirational ideas about how we can coexist in the future.
Human-bird conflicts and how to mitigate them:
- e.g., hunting, impacts on crops & fisheries, disease, renewables, nuisance, development, pollution.
- Examples of win-win strategies that mitigate these conflicts equitably and engagedly.
Understanding and accessing the benefits of birds to people:
- e.g. services and nature-based solutions involving birds.
- How to quantify benefits and how these are recognised and valued by people e.g. pollination, food for people, seed dispersal, arts, health and wellbeing insect control.
The cultural and social importance of birds and how these shape people’s views/interactions with birds:
- e.g. bird watching, bird feeding, and specific species of cultural and symbolic significance (myths, arts, religion).
Inclusivity and equality in ornithology:
- e.g., limitations to engagement and barriers to birding, how barriers have been addressed, what has helped enable people from underrepresented audiences to engage in ornithology.
- What makes ornithology appealing e.g. through citizen science and educational practices
Species conservation successes:
- Species-specific achievements and their impact.
- Stories of being bird conservationist – challenges and opportunities.
Alfred Newton Lecture nominations
The Alfred Newton Lecture is the BOU’s prestige lecture delivered by an internationally renowned figure on the theme of the annual conference.
The public call for Alfred Newton Lecture nominations is open. If you would like to nominate someone to deliver the Alfred Newton Lecture at BOU2026, on the theme of Birds and people: challenges and opportunities of coexistence, please do so via the link below, before the deadline.
Nominate Alfred Newton Lecturer
Deadline for Alfred Newton Lecture nominations: 31 March 2025
Call for keynotes
The public call for keynote nominations is open. If you would like to nominate a keynote speaker for BOU2026, on the theme of the conference, please do so via the link below, before the deadline.
Deadline for keynote nominations: 31 March 2025
Parallel conference format
The BOU aims to run inclusive and accessible events. One way we seek to achieve this is by delivering our conferences in parallel on a freely accessible social media platform. From 2025 onwards, this will be Bluesky.
All presenters at our conferences will be invited to post a summary of their presentation on Bluesky, and will be provided with helpful guidelines to support them in doing so. No conference registration, or Bluesky account, is required to view these presentations.
Social media has broadened the reach of our conferences, attracting a significantly larger and more diverse audience than meetings without this element.
You can view previous BOU conferences on Bluesky here:
BOU2024
BOUasm24
BOUsci24
Scientific Programme Committee
Nishant Kumar | Ambedkar University Delhi & National Centre for Biological Sciences (TIFR), Bengaluru, India & University of Oxford, UK (Chair)
Tatsuya Amano | University of Queensland, Australia
Kristina Beck | Senckenberg Research Institute, Germany
Joelene Hughes | RSPB, UK & BOU Meetings Committee
Barry McMahon | University College Dublin, Ireland & BOU Meetings Committee
Alice Risely | University of Salford, UK & BOU Meetings Committee
Umesh Srinivasan | Indian Institute of Science, India
Image credits
Red-billed Quelea | I’ve Got It On Film! CC BY 2.0 Wikimedia Commons
Kea | Jens Bludau CC BY-SA 3.0 Wikimedia Commons
Hen Harrier | Александр Чегодаев CC0 Wikimedia Commons