Wild bird care market leader Gardman has signed a five-year partnership deal with the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO), renewing a relationship that stretches back almost 20 years.
It allows Gardman access to the UK's most comprehensive source of research into wild bird populations, and provides valuable indicators that retailers can use to drive sales at key times in the year.

Monthly data from the BTO enables Gardman to monitor trends in garden bird numbers and activity, pinpointing, for example, where certain species are in decline. Gardman can then make suggestions on how stockists can use this information to boost sales.

The plight of house sparrows is a case in point. BTO Garden BirdWatch data highlights their decline over the past 20 years and the BTO suggests possible reasons why this has happened. Supplementary feeding at certain times of the year can help improve their survival rate.

Gardman says that such data gives retailers the perfect tool for creating strong, emotive and authoritative in-store messaging to influence customer purchases.

The BTO tests all Gardman products to ensure they are fit for purpose before they are added to the range, and feedback from bird enthusiasts helps to generate ideas for further new product development. The BTO endorses the entire Gardman wild bird care range.

Says Mike Toms, BTO associate director, communications (science): "The BTO's relationship with Gardman, which first began in 1996, has been hugely beneficial to both partners.

"Royalties received from Gardman have helped the BTO to fund research into garden birds, their ecology and populations, while Gardman has benefited from BTO expertise, as it has sought to develop and market its range of bird feeds and feeding products."