Spring into Bird Surveys

As the sun begins to warm up and nature readies for spring, it is an exciting time to tune in to the natural world around us. The wattles, with their cheery yellow blossoms, and the birds that you might have been lucky enough to spy seeking out nest sites or collecting nesting material are both signs of the warmer weather to come.  

Happily, as nature gets busy, our Birds in Backyards Spring Survey is here! Time to spruce up your feathers and let us know about your local birds! New to surveys or need a refresher? Register for our free webinar where we will take you through doing a survey step by step! The next webinar will be held on Wednesday 8th September at 7pm. Register at Eventbrite.  

And of course, it's time to get excited for the Aussie Backyard Bird Count! This annual bird survey will be held from 18-24th October and is a great chance to get friends and family in on the fun! 

Birds in Backyards Surveys - How do I take part? 

Simply spend 20 minutes somewhere you can view birds safely and within government restrictions - your backyard, or other favourite space, record the bird species you see and count how many there are. To let us know what you saw, register for a free Birdata account, read the instructions for the web or app or watch the video. If you download the Birdata app (search for BirdLife in your app store) you can take your device with you to do your count. Otherwise, go to the Birdata portal to get started on your computer.  

What’s in it for me? 

When you complete a Birds in Backyards Survey in Birdata, you help us to understand our local birds and give us invaluable insight into their daily lives. 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 in Birdata. Follow us on social media for more details. 

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 (including pictures!) 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. Don't worry, you only have to fill in this information once, unless something has changed the next time you survey. 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. 

When can 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 Spring survey period runs throughout September and October - 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. 

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