There are birds in my garden. Lots of them. I’m not an overly keen gardener, so birds, bees and insects love our place. Wax-eyes love the flowers and silver beet that have gone to seed. Other birds like scratching up the mossy lawn looking for worms. I love the sound of birdsong. Especially the bird that flies to the top of my neighbour’s garden and sings. I didn’t know that birds are an important indicator of the health of our environment.
You can participate in this citizen science project. There are lots of activities and resources to help you identify birds. For creative kids, there is colouring in, masks to make and quizzes to do.
You may be wondering why we count garden birds, especially introduced species. We learn about the health of our towns and cities. Scientists can’t do this on their own. They need you. We need a good picture of the birds in our country. The more people counting birds, the more we learn about our bird population. Doing the survey is fairly easy. Print out the tally sheet and choose a day that suits you. Find a comfortable spot to sit (either inside or outside). Look and listen for one hour. For each type of bird, record the highest number seen at one time. Use Landcare’s online form to enter your count.
Fantastic! You have just helped scientists understand our bird population.
To help you with identifying birds and encouraging birds to visit your garden, here is my list of recommended books.
New Zealand Garden bird survey: 30 June – 8 July 2018
- Attracting Birds and Other Wildlife to your Garden in New Zealand
- Attracting Birds and Other Wildlife to your Garden in New Zealand
- The Field Guide to the Birds of New Zealand
- Birds of New Zealand
- A Photographic Guide to Birds of New Zealand
- All About New Zealand Birds
- A Mini Guide to the Identification of New Zealand’s Land Birds
- Which New Zealand Bird?
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