Frequently Asked Questions

To do a Birds in Backyards survey, spend 20 minutes in one spot where you can view birds. During the 20 minutes, note down the birds that you observe and count how many you see of each species. Once you have completed your count, you can submit it to BirdLife through Birdata. You can do a Birds in Backyards survey in your actual backyard (or front yard), at local park, school or other  favourite  outdoor space.  

You can submit your surveys through the Birdata online portal or use the app available for free from your app store on your device. Sign up for a Birdata account here. When you are ready to enter your count on Birdata, choose "Birds in Backyards" under the Record Survey section and follow the prompts.  
You don’t need any other tools – if you don’t have binoculars don’t worry, in a garden you will be able to see the birds visiting you quite easily. You can use a field guide or our Bird Finder as well, but the Birds in Backyards surveys show you a prepopulated list of 30 birds from your region that you are likely to encounter. 

Your personal details will never be shared or published without your prior, written permission. We are governed by the BirdLife Australia privacy policy and that includes our surveys. You can read it here: birdlife.org.au/privacy-policy 

Any time you want to do a Birds in Backyards survey, you can! The Birds in Backyards surveys are accessible all year round. 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. 

Each quarter we launch a seasonal survey. By dividing the year up by seasons we can track changes in bird communities at the same four times each year – Summer (December & January), Autumn (March & April), Winter (June & July), and Spring (September & October).  

The 20 minute count and the weekly list are the two options for Birds in Backyards surveys. For the 20 minute count you record the birds observed, and how many of each species. The consistent length of this survey type means BirdLife can examine which birds are visiting and how many of them. For analysis purposes, this is the most useful method. The weekly list lets you keep a longer-term record of birds you observe and the incidental birds you may see unexpectedly. Because there is no set time for this method, BirdLife can only examine which birds are visiting, not how many individual birds there are. You can include the ‘how many’ in the survey when you submit it and keep it for your own records.

You can measure your space using a tape measure, a piece of rope cut to an appropriate length, or an object like a broom that you know the length of. There are also lots of great tools online which allow you to calculate the size of your garden (or the area you are surveying). You could try Google Maps, or something like www.mapdevelopers.com/area_finder.php  

If you have a big property you may want to set up multiple survey locations. You can do this on an average block as well if you would like to survey your front yard and your backyard, Choose sites on your property that have different features for birds, for example, a grassed area for one site, and a treed area as a second site. In Birdata, when you set your location, zoom in nice and close and pick your site. You can then give it a name and record the habitat features under ‘Details’ for that particular place you are counting in. 

Check out the Birds in Backyards Bird Finder on the Birds in Backyards website, or download the free Aussie Bird Count app, which has a field guide function, from the app store on your device. You can purchase field guide apps and hard copy field guides too. If you have a mystery bird that you can’t identify, snap a photo or video and email it to us birdsinbackyards@birdlife.org.au or tag us on social media. 

The Birds in Backyards surveys are all about the birds that are using your outdoor space. We are interested in the birds visiting and what is attracting them to your garden – the type of garden features you have. So if a bird is flying straight through, then don’t count the bird and just enjoy seeing it. However, if you have a bird circling overhead that is obviously checking out your place (like birds of prey or Welcome Swallows do) then that bird can be counted as it is searching your space.  

This can be a bit tricky because it can sometimes be hard to tell if it is the same bird returning. However, we want to know the actual number of birds, not the number of times birds visit, so try to keep track of the birds in the area, and just count each bird once. One way to do this is by recording the highest number of individual birds of each species that you see together at any one time. For example, three magpies might pop into the garden, head next door and then two come back again – that is three birds, not five. 

On the Birdata web portal there will be an ‘X’ on the far right hand side of the screen for each bird listed. To remove a bird, click on that ‘X’. On the app, swipe left on the bird you want to delete and a red ‘delete’ option will appear. Click it to delete the bird from your list. 

Living sustainably is about living within the means of our natural systems. The World Commission on Environment and Development outlined sustainability as: "forms of progress that meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their needs."

However it is not just about caring for the environment, sustainability is also about understanding the many interconnections between economy, society and the environment. Sustainability education develops skills, knowledge and values that promote behaviour in support of a sustainable environment. Here at Birds in Backyards, we use sustainability education to promote the creation of habitat for the birds that live where people live.

Habitat fragmentation is the process by which the natural world is divided and subdivided into increasingly smaller pieces, termed fragments. These fragments are either completely isolated from each other, like islands in the ocean, or destroyed altogether through further development.

Fragmentation not only reduces the amount of functional habitat available for organisms to use, but it may isolate a species population into subpopulations, and can result in risk local extinction of a species if individuals cannot move between the patches of habitat that remain. There can also be a number of trickle-down effects such as the invasion of feral plants and animals.

While natural events such as volcanos can cause habitat fragmentation, the main cause of habitat fragmentation is human development for activities such as agriculture, rural development and urbanisation. In the wheat belt of central western New South Wales, for example, 90% of the native vegetation has been cleared, resulting in many of our woodland and grassland birds declining in numbers in these areas.

Come spring time this is one of our most common questions! Along the east coast of Australia it heralds the arrival of 2 cuckoos – the Asian Koel and the Channel-billed Cuckoo. The Koel is especially noisy when it arrives in an area and calls to advertise to potential mates (and to warn rivals).

Of course these are not the only 2 birds that call at night. We have many nocturnal birds including:

• Tawny frogmouth
• Powerful owl
• Southern boobook
• Australian Owlet-nightjar
• Bush Stone-curlew

And there are a range of diurnal birds (daytime birds) that can get noisy at night too. Some examples are:

• Willie wagtail
• Masked lapwing
• Bassian thrush

Sometimes these birds can be an inconvenience but they rarely hang around for too long so please be patient and hopefully you won’t have too many undisturbed nights.

This is a question that has come up a few times and it is something we have thought about. The difficulty lies with how different people interpret different calls, there can be a lot of different descriptions of how each bird sounds. The same bird species can also sound different in different locations – they can have their own regional dialect! It would quickly become a very complicated and difficult task. We have classified some of the more common and distinctive calls though on our Top 40 bird songs page.

Probably the most disliked bird in the country, Common Mynas are one bird that people do not want around. They are increasing in number along the east coast of Australia and can be noisy and messy.

The main published data on the negative influence of the Common Myna on biodiversity in Australia has focussed on Canberra, following its release there in 1968. These relate mainly to observations of Common Mynas aggressively excluding hollow-nesting parrots from potential nest sites.  At present, the impact of Common Mynas on native bird communities across Australia is uncertain. In coastal locations, where Common Mynas have been established for a long period of time, studies have found no impacts of Common Mynas on the rest of the urban bird community. However, much more research is needed to improve our understanding of the possible impacts of this and many other introduced species. In locations where the Common Myna’s range is expanding, it is likely that their impact will be much more pronounced than where there has been populations established for decades.

Culling by trapping and euthanizing individual birds is both labour- and cost-intensive and the success of such control measures is unknown. Many councils and community groups have established trapping programs in an effort to cull this species. These programs do not usually target specific areas and instead, traps are simply provided to those on a wait list in order of the application. This approach is unlikely to be successful. Basically if you remove some mynas from your yard but they are still in the area, then you simply create a vacuum to draw more in.

So what can you do? You can still trap if this is a method you want to try (always ensure euthanizing is done humanely), but it needs to be done in conjunction with habitat modification. You need to make your yard unattractive for the mynas. Think about where you usually see them – hanging around the house/roof and on the open lawn space. Plant a shrubby layer wherever possible (and this is great for our small native birds), block holes in rooves where they may breed and ensure that they don’t have access to pet food or rubbish bins. If they are perching on your decking you can also try various methods outlined in the next FAQ.

Generally birds attack their reflection in a window during their breeding season. They are seeing another bird encroaching on their territory and they want it gone! In some cases the behaviour can get very extreme, with the bird attacking the reflection for most of the day. Not only can it drive you crazy, but when it becomes obsessive, it is bad for the birds too.

In most instances, the birds will simply do it a couple of times and move on, but if it is persistent then you need to remove the trigger for the behaviour – the reflection. You can try:

• Cling wrap or cellophane on the outside of the window
• A bird silhouette (like a hawk or owl) stuck on the window
• A rubber snake in front (remember to move it)
• A CD or other mobile hanging in front of the window
• Soaping or dirtying the outside of the window

Remember is illegal to capture or harm a bird, its nest or its eggs, even with the best intentions. The bird should never be harmed in order to stop it attacking its own reflection.

Even if there is no visible injury to the bird, it can die from infection after a cat attack. Bacteria found in the saliva and the mouth of a mammal can cause fatal septicemia (infection in the bloodstream) of a bird very quickly. Cat bites should be considered the most dangerous, as the Pasteurella bacteria commonly found in a cat's mouth, is extremely hazardous to birds. Even a simple puncture by a tooth can result in a fatal infection. Scratches from claws are also extremely dangerous, as the risk of infection is very real.

If a cat brings you a bird, place it in a dark, well ventilated box and contact either your local wildlife rescue or nearest vet that has wildlife/bird experience.

Thankfully no! Birds recognise their offspring by call rather than smell, and in fact they have a pretty bad sense of smell. So if you find a nestling out of a nest simply pop it back in and mum and dad will do the rest.

Generally birds are good at getting a nest box ready for breeding so you shouldn’t have to do a thing. If you remove the nest material, don’t scrub out the box with any detergents.

Some birds like having some soil or compost in the bottom of the nest box so, read up on the type of box you have and whether that step is needed.

Where possible, we suggest getting a list of locally native plants to put in your garden. Your local council will have a list and will be able to direct you to your nearest native nursery (where tubestock is often very reasonably priced). Birds in Backyards also has lists for locally native plants of most Sydney Local Government Areas. We want to expand this and have lists for all major cities and towns and so if you are keen to contribute to this please Contact Us.

It isn’t always possible to get locally native plants though, so don’t feel you have to restrict yourself. Getting the right structure (lots of layers) in your garden is the really important thing. Native plants in general can be great but steer clear of hybrid natives with large flowers that flower throughout most of the year (like the big showy grevilleas) as these can attract large aggressive honeyeaters which can in turn make it difficult to get other smaller birds to visit.

We wish we could! However the birds you can get in your yard is influenced not only by what you plant, but what is going on in the space around you. Inspire your neighbours by creating a beautiful and practical garden, you will be surprised by the great example you can set. Talk to your local council about what is going on with your local parks and see if there is a way to incorporate planting for birds in them. Most councils will have plans for local wildlife corridors as well and as these develop they can be very important for moving birds across the landscape.

Remember your garden is one of many stepping stones that birds need to use. So even if you think that your garden is too isolated, it might just be an important piece of the puzzle for bird-friendly habitat.