Backyard Bird Count

City of Darwin is calling on the Darwin community to become involved in the National Backyard Bird Count, from 21-27 October, an initiative of BirdLife Australia.

Information gathered over the week-long Bird Count will assist researchers and conservationists by providing real data on bird numbers, bird types and migration patterns.

Acting Lord Mayor Simon Niblock encouraged the community become involved.

“It doesn’t matter if you live in an apartment, house or on a boat,” he said “the statistics you collect over the week period will make a real difference and help us understand the health of our environment here in Darwin.”

The only requirement is that participants go to the same location – their backyard, a park, the beach, etc. – and count the number and type of birds they see at that location over a twenty minute period.

For people who may not know the names of the birds living in and around their suburb the Aussie Bird Count app includes a field guide to help identify birds.

“Anyone can be involved in the Bird Count,” said Acting Lord Mayor Niblock “from complete novices to expert bird watchers.

"The important thing is being involved; the information collected will help us understand trends, the health of our environment, protect our birds and stop extinctions.”

Data collected for the Backyard Bird Count can be submitted after 27 October through the app or via the online web form at BirdLife Australia.

For more information about the Backyard Bird Count and how to be involved visit - https://aussiebirdcount.org.au/

2018 Aussie Backyard Bird Count Statistics - City of Darwin region 307 observers participated in the bird count, submitting 485 checklists Submitted checklists ranged from between 1 and 19 per registered user (average of 2.6 per registered user) The combined duration that observers surveyed over was 150 hours and 36 minutes The number of birds recorded ranged from 3 to 1,132 per registered user, with an average of 88 birds recorded per registered user A total of 16,310 individual birds were observed and recorded during bird week 156 bird species were recorded The reporting rate for species (percentage of surveys a species was detected in) ranged from 0.21% to 60.82%. Species which had lots of individuals detected but were associated with a low reporting rate indicates that multiple birds were detected within single surveys (i.e. seen in large flocks).