What species of birds are in your garden?

The survey encourages residents to spend an hour, sometime between June 30th and July 8th 2012 recording the highest number of birds seen or heard at one time. It is important that the recording is done in this manner so that individual birds are not counted twice.

Participants can do the count from the luxury of their kitchen or living room by looking out the window at just one part of their garden. More than the 3000 survey forms were completed last year and organisers are looking for an increase this year.

The results of last year’s survey show that the most numerous species counted in New Zealand gardens is the house sparrow followed by the silvereye (or waxeye), starling, blackbird and myna. In 2011, Hawke’s Bay recorded the largest increase in the number of survey forms completed.

The survey form and an identification chart for the most common birds found in New Zealand gardens is available on the web at  http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/research/biocons/gardenbird/