Kent and Medway Biological Records Centre

Tracks and Signs

Using tracks and signs as a method of species identification can, in some cases be the only chance of recording that species without erecting a camouflaged tent and spending a few nights with your eyes peeled and a good pair of night vision goggles! Some species are not necessarily nocturnal, just incredibly shy.

Tracks and signs can be anything from footprints in mud or snow and to a skull, fur, droppings or feathers.

Some examples of how tracks and signs can be used to record wildlife.

Mammals and birds are the two groups most easily identified by their tracks and signs. Many elusive species can benefit from being recorded in this way,as it is a completely unintrusive method of recording and can provide good results if care is taken. Different methods are often used to fit in with a species particular ecology. Also tracks and signs are a good way to record protected species as they are completely undisturbed.

Badger tracksBadger Tracks
Creatures such as moles are very rarely seen by people, however we can identify their whereabouts by the presence of molehills - a sign. Signs can often be the only definitive way of obtaining some species records. We have very few mole records even though they are easy to identify.

Roe Deer SlotsRoe Deer Slots
Some species survey methods include tracks and signs as means of surveying for species - particlarly timid species where trapping could be fatal. Shrew tubes for instance are used to lure shrews into a tube with food in it, in the hope the shrew will leave droppings behind, which can be analysed and which will provide a positive ID as well as information on health and diet.

In a similar sense hair tubes have a sticky membrane inside along the roof of the tube which catches a few hairs from small mammals which can then be used to identify a species and study it's DNA for example.

Rabbit TracksRabbit Tracks
©Steve Smith
The presence of species such as otter and water voles can be identified using a number of different signs. For example otter tracks and droppings (called spraints) can be used to aid identification. Water voles leave obvious feeding signs and droppings (latrines) and have distiguishable burrows alongside rivers and lakes.

Footprints of species are also a useful form of identification but can be difficult. Deer slots can be seen easily is soft ground.

Water Vole BurrowWater vole burrow
©Steve Smith
Plastercasts can be made of footprints to help later identification, or a photograph with some form of size comparison e.g. a ruler or coin, can also be useful.

Species behaviour can also be identified through the signs they leave behind. For example, gnawing bark, pathways left in the undergrowth can all tell a story about the species using the area.

Bird species can also be indentified from tracks and signs. Feathers are the most obvious one, the typical azure blue Jay's feather being a good example. They can make good records if correctly identified.

Some birds create distinctive nests such as long-tailed tits, who often nest in gorse creating a spherical nest covered in lichen and cobwebs.

Many birds who eat mall mammals or other birds regurgitate pellets made up of a dense mass of bones/fur/feathers. The pellets themselves can be analysed to find out what's been eaten and generate records from prey. But the pellet as a whole can often tell us what species the predator is. Crows, owls, and other birds of prey produce pellets, which can provide a huge amount of useful data about predator/prey relationships and health. Pellets are often left beneath favoured roosting sites.

Species such as sparrowhawks often have distinctive kill sites, identified from the prey left behind.

Feeding signs of birds and mammals can be identified from things like pine cones and nibbled nuts.

Adders, and grass snakes also shed their skin (slough) and this can often be used to aid their identification.

Hair samples are often used to survey water shrews etc, and can provide useful data about a species without any disturbance to the creature.

Literature

Two useful guides we have here in our library:

Tracks & Signs of the Birds of Britain and Europe.

Roy Brown, John Ferguson, Michael Lawrence, and David Lees. (2nd Edition)


ISBN: 0-7136-5382-5

Animals Tracks, Trails & Signs.

RW Brown, MJ Lawrence, J Pope


ISBN: 0753709554
KMBRC INTRANET