The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is a charitable organisation registered in England and Wales[1] and in Scotland.

It works to promote conservation and protection of birds and the wider environment through public awareness campaigns, petitions and through the operation of nature reserves throughout the United Kingdom.

To this end the Society had two simple rules:[8] At the time of founding, the trade in plumage for use in hats was very large: in the first quarter of 1884, almost 7,000 bird-of-paradise skins were being imported to Britain, along with 400,000 birds from West India and Brazil, and 360,000 birds from East India.

[11] In 1890, the society published its first leaflet, entitled Destruction of Ornamental-Plumaged Birds,[12] aimed at saving the egret population by informing wealthy women of the environmental damage wrought by the use of feathers in fashion.

[14] The Society attracted support from some women of high social standing who belonged to the social classes that popularised the wearing of feathered hats, including the Duchess of Portland (who became the Society's first President) and the Ranee of Sarawak.

The society received a Royal Charter in 1904[8] from Edward VII, just 15 years after its founding, and was instrumental in petitioning the Parliament of the United Kingdom to introduce laws banning the use of plumage in clothing.

[17] It is one of several organisations that determine the official conservation status list for all birds found in the UK.

In the 1950s, there were four copies per year (one for each season, published on the 1st of each third month, March, June, September and December).

1), publication increased to six per year, (issued in the odd-numbered months, January, March and so on, but dated "January–February", "March–April", etc.).

The RSPB describes this as the "world's biggest wildlife survey" and helps inform conservationists to gain a better knowledge on bird population trends in gardens in Britain.

[28] The Big Garden Birdwatch was launched as a children's activity in 1979, but from 2001 it encouraged adults to partake as well.

[29] BirdTrack is an online citizen science website, operated by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) on behalf of a partnership of the BTO, the RSPB, BirdWatch Ireland, the Scottish Ornithologists' Club and the Welsh Ornithological Society (Welsh: Cymdeithas Adaryddol Cymru).

[32] As a registered charity, the organisation is entitled to gift aid worth an extra £0.25 on every £1.00 donated by income tax payers.

It was reported in an article in The Daily Mail on 2 November 2014 that claims that the charity "was spending 90 per cent of its income on conservation" by the UK Advertising Standards Authority were incorrect.

The Charity Commission investigated the claims, and contacted the RSPB to get it to clarify its web statement.