It’s National Bird Week and the Aussie Backyard Bird Count is on again.
My whole family looks forward to this one week every October even though we watch the birds around our house the rest of the year. My kids are becoming expert Bird Nerds and I love it.
BirdLife Australia runs the Bird Count every year to find out about the common species that live where people live. It provides a snapshot of Australian birds at the same time each year and allows us to look at the trends in our bird communities from year to year. This is important because it’s these more common species that give us the best indication of the health of the environment – think of birds as a barometer for nature!
To complete the Aussie Backyard Bird Count, all you need to do is spend 20 minutes standing or sitting in one spot and noting the birds that you see in the Bird Count app.
There is a field guide to help you work out who’s who in your garden.
Nationally, 5,107, 381 birds were counted this year. In our garden we saw:
- King Parrots
- Australian Magpie (Big Boy)
- Chestnut-rumped Heathwren
- Common Mynahs (boo!)
- Crested Pigeon (only one, we call him Tufty)
- Crimson Rosella (Budgie and Splodge, Twitchy and Scratchy)
- Eastern Rosellas
- Galahs
- Gang-gang cockatoos (cheeky things were hassling some sulphur-crested cockies in their nest!)
- Little Ravens
- Magpie-larks
- Pied Currawongs
- Red Wattlebirds
- Sulphur-crested cockatoos.
I talked about this with Danny Hoyland on West Bremer Radio on 23 October. Listen each week: Saturday 7.40 am, West Bremer Radio.