Snuggle up and survey!

Feel the crisp winter air and join your birds outside for a winter bird survey (or stay indoors with a nice hot cuppa and watch them through the window...)

20 mins and some information about your garden helps to understand our local birds and gives us invaluable insight into their daily lives.

Join us for a webinar

Register for a free session and we will take you through doing a survey step by step.

The next webinar will be held on Wednesday June 9 and 7pm. Tickets are all sold, but add yourself to the wait list Eventbrite. Stay tuned and we will advertise another webinar shortly.

How do I take part?

To do a Birds in Backyards survey, spend 20 minutes in one spot where you can view birds - your backyard, local park, school, or other favourite outdoor place. Simply count how many you see of each bird species you see using that space and tell us about what the outdoor space is like. Then to enter your survey data, register your free Birdata account, read the instructions for the web or app or watch the video. If you download the Birdata app you can take your smartphone or tablet outside with you to do your count. Otherwise, go to the Birdata portal to get started on your computer.

What if I don't know much about birds?

If you are unsure where or how to start, or even feel like you don’t know the first thing about birds only that you love to see them, then fear not! The Birdata web portal and app automatically gives you a list of 30 birds from your region to get you started.

What if I only have super common or introduced birds?

That is really useful! We want to know about the birds you don’t see just as much as the ones you do. So if your list is only small, all introduced birds or full of birds you don’t think are very ‘exciting’, that is still important information for us. All surveys are important so please give it a go.

Why do you ask all those garden questions?

You will see that the first time you survey a location, we ask you to fill in an 'About My Site' section. This asks you what your garden is like, who might be using it and what you do in it as well. There are a lot of questions but we use this information to look at what features might be attracting different types of birds - and use it to help people create bird-friendly gardens. For example - Eastern Spinebills are more likely to be found in gardens with lots of shrub cover (ie more than half the garden) and next to no lawn.
Don't worry, you only have to fill in all the garden information once UNLESS something has changed the next time you survey. If you have, for example, planted a new tree, just update that info.
Check out our FAQs for more tips on filling out the garden section.

Why do these surveys?

Your surveys are used by BirdLife  Australia and us in the Urban Bird team to track the health of our urban birds, and to monitor the impact of our gardens, outdoor spaces and even our own behaviours on bird populations. We can learn a lot from Birds in Backyard surveys, like how different types of gardens can attract different types of birds, and which features birds may be avoiding or are negatively affected by. In 2021 your surveys will also be used in the very first Urban Bird Index for BirdLife Australia's State of Australia's Birds Report

Importantly, your surveys contribute to the on-ground conservation work we undertake with our volunteers, branches and partners – from local planting and habitat improvement projects up to national advocacy and campaigns. We also use the survey data in seminars and workshops conducted by staff, or for our projects such as the Powerful Owl Project. Read about how the surveys you do in your gardens are helping in our post-fire conservation work here.

How often should I survey?

Each quarter we launch a seasonal survey. By dividing the year up into seasons we can track changes in bird communities at the same four times each year. Our Winter survey period runs throughout June and July - but you can still submit surveys at any time. You can do as many surveys as you like, as often as you like! Some people like to just participate once a quarter (or four times a year) in our seasonal surveys, while others like to count their birds more frequently.

What else can I record?

There are a few important interactions you can share with us if you see them. Keep an eye out for:

• Breeding behaviours - If you see a bird carrying nesting materials, sitting on a nest or feeding chicks, let us know. Select the option under 'Breeding Activity' that best matches your observation (remember to keep your distance though from birds who are breeding. We don't want to disturb any nests. Be sure to limit your observations and don't get close enough to scare a bird off it's nest.)
• Aggressive interactions – Let us know if you have observed any species initiate interactions with other birds and whether this interaction could be classed as aggressive – you can do this in the sighting details tab using the specific species interactions option.
• Have you seen any birds feeding on the native plants in your garden? If so – who was dining on what? – you can tell us in the notes section when you record the species you have observed under “sighting details”
• Have any birds been dabbling in some Oscar-worthy acting? – tell us about the weird and wonderful things your backyard birds have been up to you using the notes section in the sighting details tabs.

Check out our survey instructions page for more info and FAQs.

Don't forget you can also win great prizes. We will be giving away Birds in Backyards prize packs and even some extra special goodies throughout 2021, but to win you have to enter your surveys. Follow us on social media for more details.