20 June 2016

Get Involved in the Garden Bird Survey

Hawke’s Bay residents are an important part of the annual Garden Bird Survey week which will be on again from 25 June to 3 July, 2016.

Each year many Hawke’s Bay homeowners, gardeners and students take part in the survey, which Hawke’s Bay Regional Council has encouraged as a useful way to track the outcome of the region’s possum control programmes in rural and urban areas.

“People are still telling us how much they appreciate having more native birds around their farms, gardens and urban areas since we’ve run our possum control operations, and many of these people help us by taking part in the survey,” says Rod Dickson, Biodiversity Officer.

This will be the tenth survey organised by Landcare Research. In the past 10 years it has grown in popularity to include 25,000 observations from people keen to participate in this citizen science opportunity.

To take part, people simply are asked to sit and watch their garden for an hour and record the maximum number of each bird species they see at any one time during that period. Results can be entered on the NZ Garden Bird Survey web page.http://www.landcareresearch.co.nz/science/plants-animals-fungi/animals/birds/garden-bird-surveys/taking-part

Tally sheets and guides for identifying birds are also online or at local libraries.

Many schools also take part in the survey and this year school children can take part in a virtual field trip during the survey week. There is also a colouring competition, bird mask activity and how to use chocolate fish to check bird sizes. Landcare Research has partnered with Department of Conservation and LEARNZ for the education component and teachers can register their classes through the bird survey webpage.

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