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This will be the 41st instalment, and, as always, we’d love it if you could join us for an hour, be that from the comfort of your living room, at the office or outside in the park. But first, let’s take a look at why we do it, and why it’s so important to our understanding of garden birds.
A fun activity that gives nature a home
Over the years, Big Garden Birdwatch has helped us understand how garden birds are faring across the country. It’s a good way of highlighting the winners and losers; which birds are doing well, and which ones are struggling. Last year’s Big Garden Birdwatch brought some interesting, yet mixed, results.
As expected, the house sparrow remains the most common bird with around 1.2 million sightings – but for several other birds, there was a concerning decline in sightings compared to 2018’s results. The song thrush, whose numbers have fallen around a devastating 77% since the first Big Garden Birdwatch in 1979, came in at number 20. But there was some encouraging news – the goldfinch’s dramatic increase in numbers continues as the sixth most-seen bird in our gardens. This is staggering when considering that it did not feature at all in the first Big Garden Birdwatch.
Big Garden Birdwatch is important for our garden birds, but it’s also important for us too. It’s an activity that brings people together to engage with nature. It’s also a perfect excuse to escape from the hecticness of everyday life, put the screen down, and enjoy the wildlife that surrounds us.
How does it work?
Choose a good place to watch from for an hour. Bring a pen and paper to jot down what you see. If you’re going to be outside, make sure that you wrap up warm, bring a hot drink and maybe a few snacks with you as well. If you haven't got a garden of your own that's no problem - just pop down to your local park or green space and join in there. Remember - anyone can take part!
Once you’ve settled down in your spot, count the maximum number of each species you see at any one time. For example, if you see a group of three house sparrows together and later another two, and after that another one, the number to submit is three. That way, it’s less likely you’ll double-count the same birds. Remember also to only count the birds that land, not those flying over. After your hour is up, please send us your results – you can do this online here. Please remember - even if you had a disappointing hour in which you didn’t see much, please let us know as it is still important information. As well as sending in your results, we would also love to hear your Big Garden Birdwatch stories by using #BigGardenBirdWatch