Latest news with #NZGardenBirdSurvey
Scoop
26-06-2025
- Science
- Scoop
The 19th NZ Garden Bird Survey Starts On Saturday 28 June
Press Release – Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research Once submitted and analysed, the huge amounts of data provided by citizen scientists nationwide more than 77,000 surveys since 2007 shape the story of how bird counts are changing across the country over two timeframes the past 5 and past … Thousands of New Zealanders have their pencils sharpened and at the ready for the start of the 19th New Zealand Garden Bird Survey | Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa on Saturday 28 June. As New Zealand/Aotearoa's longest-running citizen science project, the NZ Garden Bird Survey performs an invaluable role in tracking how our birds are faring, especially in urban and rural environments. Once submitted and analysed, the huge amounts of data provided by citizen scientists nationwide – more than 77,000 surveys since 2007 – shape the story of how bird counts are changing across the country over two timeframes – the past 5 and past 10 years. According to Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Senior Researcher Dr Angela Brandt, the ongoing data collection is showing how the trends for each species might be changing over time. The results from the State of NZ Garden Birds | Te āhua o ngā manu o te kāri i Aotearoa 2024 had good and bad news for four of our native species. While tūī (kōkō) and fantail (pīwakawaka) continue to show increasing trends, and the national declines in silvereye (tauhou) counts have lessened, we are seeing short-term declines for kererū at the national scale and in seven regions. 'In the latest report, we see a tapering off of national declines for silvereye and increasing trends in their counts in 10 regions, which is heartening. But short-term declines are emerging for several species, including kererū and three introduced songbirds,' Dr Brandt says. Because these bird trends often vary by region, it's beneficial to have more people taking part in the survey to enable us to detect when a regional trend is different to the national trend. 'We received a record number of surveys in 2024, and I'd love to see if each region can come out in force for their garden birds again,' Dr Brandt says. Now is the perfect time to create a birding memory, especially if you've never done the Survey before. The NZ Garden Bird Survey website has a whole host of bird identification pages, bird song examples, and tips on how to get the best out of your Survey experience. Doing the survey is great for people, too. Back in 2020, we asked participants about their experience taking part. Some people responded that they liked participating in a large collective effort like the NZ Garden Bird Survey because they didn't have time to join a conservation or nature group. Most people also reported a greater sense of wellbeing after spending time counting birds in the garden. 'We had people saying it was a good opportunity to slow down,' says Manaaki Whenua Senior Researcher Dr Gradon Diprose. 'Participants talked about feeling curiosity, joy, fun, wonder and a sense of connection.' Teachers and families can enrich the learning experience around the NZ Garden Bird Survey with a bilingual lesson plan, developed in partnership with the Science Learning Hub, which explores learning about birds through a te ao Māori lens. Kairangahau Māori Yvonne Taura says the aim was to engage kura Māori in manu education and show they have a role to play in protecting their local environment. 'We've built a curriculum that will be a scaffold for learning opportunities in kura. By showing manu in the environment and how they are impacted by urban development, we can encourage kaitiakitanga and an understanding of our manu taonga.' It's easy to take part in the Survey: 1. Visit the NZ Garden Bird Survey website to get started: 2. Select a garden or a local park 3. Choose any ONE day between 28 June and 6 July. 4. Look and listen for birds on that day for ONE hour. 5. For each species, record the HIGHEST number seen or heard at one time. 6. Submit the results online via the NZ Garden Bird Survey website's Take Part page:
Scoop
25-06-2025
- Science
- Scoop
The 19th NZ Garden Bird Survey Starts On Saturday 28 June
Thousands of New Zealanders have their pencils sharpened and at the ready for the start of the 19th New Zealand Garden Bird Survey | Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa on Saturday 28 June. As New Zealand/Aotearoa's longest-running citizen science project, the NZ Garden Bird Survey performs an invaluable role in tracking how our birds are faring, especially in urban and rural environments. Once submitted and analysed, the huge amounts of data provided by citizen scientists nationwide – more than 77,000 surveys since 2007 – shape the story of how bird counts are changing across the country over two timeframes – the past 5 and past 10 years. According to Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research Senior Researcher Dr Angela Brandt, the ongoing data collection is showing how the trends for each species might be changing over time. The results from the State of NZ Garden Birds | Te āhua o ngā manu o te kāri i Aotearoa 2024 had good and bad news for four of our native species. While tūī (kōkō) and fantail (pīwakawaka) continue to show increasing trends, and the national declines in silvereye (tauhou) counts have lessened, we are seeing short-term declines for kererū at the national scale and in seven regions. 'In the latest report, we see a tapering off of national declines for silvereye and increasing trends in their counts in 10 regions, which is heartening. But short-term declines are emerging for several species, including kererū and three introduced songbirds,' Dr Brandt says. Because these bird trends often vary by region, it's beneficial to have more people taking part in the survey to enable us to detect when a regional trend is different to the national trend. 'We received a record number of surveys in 2024, and I'd love to see if each region can come out in force for their garden birds again,' Dr Brandt says. Now is the perfect time to create a birding memory, especially if you've never done the Survey before. The NZ Garden Bird Survey website has a whole host of bird identification pages, bird song examples, and tips on how to get the best out of your Survey experience. Doing the survey is great for people, too. Back in 2020, we asked participants about their experience taking part. Some people responded that they liked participating in a large collective effort like the NZ Garden Bird Survey because they didn't have time to join a conservation or nature group. Most people also reported a greater sense of wellbeing after spending time counting birds in the garden. 'We had people saying it was a good opportunity to slow down,' says Manaaki Whenua Senior Researcher Dr Gradon Diprose. 'Participants talked about feeling curiosity, joy, fun, wonder and a sense of connection.' Teachers and families can enrich the learning experience around the NZ Garden Bird Survey with a bilingual lesson plan, developed in partnership with the Science Learning Hub, which explores learning about birds through a te ao Māori lens. Kairangahau Māori Yvonne Taura says the aim was to engage kura Māori in manu education and show they have a role to play in protecting their local environment. 'We've built a curriculum that will be a scaffold for learning opportunities in kura. By showing manu in the environment and how they are impacted by urban development, we can encourage kaitiakitanga and an understanding of our manu taonga.' It's easy to take part in the Survey: 1. Visit the NZ Garden Bird Survey website to get started: 2. Select a garden or a local park 3. Choose any ONE day between 28 June and 6 July. 4. Look and listen for birds on that day for ONE hour. 5. For each species, record the HIGHEST number seen or heard at one time. 6. Submit the results online via the NZ Garden Bird Survey website's Take Part page:
Scoop
28-05-2025
- Science
- Scoop
How Have Our Garden Birds Been Tracking Since 2014?
Things are looking up for the tauhou (silvereye), according to the results from the 2024 State of New Zealand Garden Birds | Te Āhua o ngā Manu o te Kāri Aotearoa report, which have just been released. The national declines for the species that were reported in previous years have tapered off and they are showing increases in 10 regions in the long- or short-term. 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!
