Your Autumn Survey Results
Submitted by Holly on 16 May 2023.
While we’ve seen wintry conditions across much of Australia this Autumn, that hasn’t stopped our backyard birds from being out and about, or stopped us from taking part in Birds in Backyards surveys.
Across the country, 1345 Birds in Backyards surveys were completed during the March-April period, counting nearly 50 thousand birds of 308 different species. The bulk of our surveys were from the East Coast states, but we would like to shout out to surveyors from further flung locations, like Kalgoorlie where Singing Honeyeaters and Brown Honeyeaters are the most seen birds.
Nationally, The top 10 most commonly seen species once again reads like a who's who of successful urban birds (shown here with their reporting rate - i.e. how often they appear in a survey).
1. Australian Magpie, 43.72%
2. Rainbow Lorikeet, 43.35%
3. Magpie-lark, 34.87%
4. Noisy Miner, 34.05%
5. Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, 26.77%
6. Spotted Dove, 25.65%
7. Willie Wagtail, 24.16%
8. Pied Currawong, 21.34%
9. Crested Pigeon , 21.26%
10. Common Myna, 20.67%
Autumns surveys also gave us a measure of the most abundant species. These are species that when seen, were counted in large numbers. Little Corellas, Crested Pigeons and Common Terns were counted in the highest numbers when they were seen. We’ve also been lucky to have some less common birds be spotted in surveys, like the Powerful Owl which was seen in Victoria and New South Wales. Owls can be valuable backyard companions because of their role in the ecosystem preying upon animals, and our Birds in Backyards surveys also counted Barn Owls and Barking Owls in NSW and Victoria.
As always, the data collected in these Autumn surveys will form part a large, long term database that is invaluable to researchers for understanding the abundance and distribution of bird species across the country. We use this information to prioritise where habitat needs to be conserved and restored, and to understand the effects that human behaviours are having on our feathered neighbours. Please keep helping us add to this data and take part in a Winter Birds in Backyards survey across June and July.
