How Have Our Garden Birds Been Tracking Since 2014?
A record number of people joined in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey in 2024, with more than 17,000 New Zealanders spending one hour counting the birds they could see or hear to contribute to Aotearoa New Zealand's longest-running citizen science project. Their efforts added more than 7,000 surveys to this valuable dataset that helps researchers track how our garden birds are faring.
The report also shows that pīwakawaka (fantail) and kōkō (tūī) continue to show increasing trends, both nationally and in many regions across the motu.
The picture gets a little more complicated for kererū, however. While their counts show a shallow increase nationally over the past 10 years (39%), over the past 5 years they show a shallow decline nationally (7%) and moderate to rapid declines in seven regions.
Some of our introduced species are also showing larger declines in the short term compared with their long-term trends. Pahirini (chaffinch), tiu (house sparrow), and kōurarini (goldfinch) counts show moderate declines of 21 – 28% over the past 5 years.
This is just the type of early warning that the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey was set up to detect, says Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research senior researcher Dr Angela Brandt. 'The short-term declines we see for kererū, and for some other species, are not an immediate cause for alarm. But they are a signal that we should be paying attention to what's happening in our bird populations, including what may be behind these trends.'
'Birds are important indicators of the health of New Zealand's environment, and many perform important ecosystem functions, while others have inherent value as taonga species. If we see birds begin to decline, that suggests something has changed in their habitat, perhaps an increase in predators or a decrease in available food and shelter, which could also be affecting other species,' Dr Brandt says.
In the 2024 survey, we asked participants 'what more needs to be done to care for birds in Aotearoa New Zealand?' Of the 4,652 responses to this question, 66% indicated that managing predators and other pests, such as weeds, was important. Dr Gradon Diprose notes that this response is consistent with previous years, in which managing predators and pests were considered the most important action to help care for our birds.
The NZ Garden Bird Survey founder, Dr EricSpurr, says he looks forward to the survey every year and is delighted at the increasing number of people who take part. 'The results show the value of long-term citizen science monitoring. None of these data would have been collected without the help of everyday New Zealanders – who have made more than 77,000 bird surveys since the survey began 18 years ago. We expect short-term changes in bird numbers from year to year, and only by collecting more data will we be able to see whether these same trends continue.'
This year the survey runs from 28 June – 6 July 2024. There is plenty of bird identification information on the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey website, so lots of time for everyone to get familiar with the manu that visit our gardens. Get ready to take part, because your contribution matters!
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