Join the Garden Bird Survey!

This weekend, people all over New Zealand will flock to their backyard, contributing to conservation by taking part in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. This annual citizen science project asks people to count birds in their gardens, helping researchers to understand the population dynamics of common garden birds.

The fantail was the 7th most common bird seen in gardens in 2014 (Photo by Jean Fleming).

The Garden Bird Survey started in 2007 when Eric Spurr, an ecologist and keen bird enthusiast, became concerned there was no way to monitor national populations of common birds. While many rare native species such as kiwi, kokako and kākāpō have their own monitoring programs, common native birds such as tūī, korimako, and kererū were not being counted. Eric saw an opportunity to collect information to act as an early-warning system if national populations of common native birds begin to decline.

Doing the Garden Bird Survey (Photo by Raimo Kuparinen)

However, monitoring the national populations of common native birds is an enormous task, so Eric looked to the public and created the Garden Bird Survey – bringing on the help of many people around New Zealand to count birds in their home gardens.

In the 8 years that the Garden Bird Survey has been running, over 24,000 people have completed the survey – and counted 106,797 birds. Many found the survey to be enjoyable and educational, saying it enabled them to participate in citizen science for a worthy cause.

How do I participate?

• Simply choose any one hour that suits you between June 27 and July 5.
• Find a comfortable place to sit where you can see your garden.
• For each bird species you see, record the highest number seen at any one time. For example, if you see one blackbird and later see two, record this as two – don’t add them up. Birds seen at a later time could be the same birds seen earlier, re-visiting the garden.
• Submit your survey results online.
• Join the Garden Bird Survey group on Facebook to share photos and stories with others from around New Zealand.