News Alert |

Ballarat residents are encouraged to celebrate national bird week by participating in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count from October 21 to 27. 

The national event that takes a snapshot of the number and species of birds in locations all over Australia at the same time each year. 

Participants can choose a location and count the number of birds, including the species of each bird, that they observe in 20 minutes.  

You can enter as many counts and from as many different locations as you like within the seven days of the count.   

Ballarat Mayor Cr Samantha McIntosh said the count was an all ages activity that can be done anywhere. 

“The program aims to educate people about the benefits of healthy bird numbers and encourage people to provide bird friendly spaces in their gardens,” Cr McIntosh said. 

“The #AussieBirdCount is a great way to connect with the birds in your backyard no matter where your backyard happens to be — a suburban backyard, a local park, bushland, or on a CBD street.” 

“You can count as many times as you like over the week, we just ask that each count is completed over a 20-minute period. The data collected assists BirdLife Australia in understanding more about the birds that live where people live.” 

Cr McIntosh said the City of Ballarat would receive local data collated from the count, which will help measure how efforts to protect and promote biodiversity were tracking in the Ballarat and in planning for revegetation and rehabilitation works. 

If you would like to be involved, it’s simple. 

Just spend 20 minutes in your backyard and record the number of birds and species that you see. You can submit your bird count through the online web form (which will be live from 14 October) at the Aussie Backyard Bird Count website https://aussiebirdcount.org.au/ .  

Or you can submit your counts through the free Aussie Bird Count app. The app is available for iPhones and Android smartphones, go to the Google Play or iTunes to download the app for free.  

If you have the Aussie Bird Count app from previous years don’t delete it, it should update automatically with the newest version. In between event dates, the app operates as a field-guide/bird finder.