Cumbrian Wildlife Atlases

To conserserve and enhance Cumbria’s biodiversity it is critical to make data available and easy to use.

Partners: Cumbria Bird Club, Cumbria Moth Group, Cumbria Mammal Group
Date: 2016 – 2018
Services: Data Management and Analysis, Document Publication

To support local and visiting recorders, CBDC, in collaboration with local recording groups, has produced multiple animal atlases for the county.

CBDC has provided data, mapping, and technical assistance to the production of numerous local wildlife atlases. For example, when producing the Cumbria Bird Atlas, we developed a digital mapping process to automatically generate maps over 1,500 maps, in a style that aligned with British Trust for Ornithology standards. The Cumbria Moth Atlas that we produced used over 250,000 moth records, mapping all 581 macro moth species in Cumbria, almost all of which were recorded by local volunteers – a great credit to the efforts of local moth recorders!

The Atlases we have produced can be found in our Wildlife in Cumbria section.

Links and Credits:

– View our list of Local and National Recording Groups
– View our full selection of Animal Atlases

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Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre

The Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre at Tullie House Museum, Carlisle keeps wildlife information for the county of Cumbria. Tullie House Museum, in its role as a local natural history museum, has collected and disseminated records of wildlife in Cumbria since its inception in 1893. From the early 1990s the Museum has developed a computerised database of species and habitat records in Cumbria and has taken the central role in providing a local biodiversity data service for the county. This role was restyled as Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre (CBDC) in 2010, a not-for-profit organisation hosted by Tullie House Museum and advised by local stakeholders.
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreThursday, April 9th, 2026 at 1:32am
What's this bird?

Okay - this is an easy one. Even with a poor photo.

But if you don't know a mallard from a moorhen or are unsure how to tell a siskin from a greenfinch, we have a short morning course for you! Come along to the Introduction to Birds session on Saturday morning for a free introduction to bird identification and find out how you can improve your birding skills.

https://www.ticketsource.com/cumbria-ecoskills/introduction-to-birds/e-gppyjb
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreTuesday, April 7th, 2026 at 6:06am
Join the 'Introduction to Birds' session this Saturday for a free course on getting started with bird identification and recording. All welcome!

https://www.ticketsource.com/cumbria-ecoskills/introduction-to-birds/e-gppyjb
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreTuesday, March 17th, 2026 at 4:53am
We have a great training session this Friday focusing on Priority Habitats - what they are and what you need to know to survey and potentially manage them. The weather is forecast to be good so why not join us to explore a range of different habitat types?

More information and to book: https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/cumbria-ecoskills/identifying-priority-habitats/e-dyymjm
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreThursday, March 12th, 2026 at 2:50am
There are two Cumbria Ecoskills courses next week focusing on understanding habitats and habitat surveying:
- Habitat Surveying (using UKHab) on 19 March at Loweswater
- Priority Habitats on 20 March at Threlkeld

Still places available if you would like to expand your habitat knowledge!

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/cumbria-ecoskills
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreFriday, March 6th, 2026 at 7:40am
At last weekend's Cumbria Recorders' Conference, we were privileged to premiere a short film by University of Cumbria Wildlife Media students Victoria, Ryan, Jack and co to celebrate the role of volunteer wildlife recorders in Cumbria and our 15th anniversary. We hope you enjoy it!

https://vimeo.com/1171115443?share=copy&fl=sv&fe=ci
Cumbria Biodiversity Data Centre
Cumbria Biodiversity Data CentreWednesday, February 25th, 2026 at 7:28am
There is still time to register for tomorrow evening's webinar on #GIS #mapping using #QGIS!

https://www.ticketsource.co.uk/cumbria-ecoskills/introduction-to-mapping-using-qgis/e-rbxqoo