General News
19 September, 2025
BARRY'S CORNER: Counting birds
Counting birds seems an impossible ask at first glance and with the swirl of feathered mobs squawking their heads off outside your window, that’s what Birdlife Australia is asking us to do.
Over a few days from October 20 is the counting target date but that is flexible.
The idea is to build on previous season counting to build up an understanding of just how many birds are in the land.
It is a crazy possibility that will actually work. If this had been started many decades ago there would have been an accurate data base available to assist us making decisions about land use issues and if any species are losing numbers or even increasing in numbers.
Birdlife is a national non-government organisation based in Melbourne and relies on volunteer input.
The idea is each counter to select a site of their choice and to spend about 20 minutes counting all the birds seen in the site and about a hectare in size.
When you register some good information is sent back to you explaining how to go about the program.
Sparrows, magpies, crows, honey eaters and all the birds are considered.
There is a chart where it identifies the type of bird for example 10 lyre birds, 2579 little corella, 45 crows, 18 sparrows, 6 white eared honeyeater and so on.
No need to travel anywhere just find a good spot such as the back yard, a patch of bush nearby.
If there is somebody else counting in the same block there is an overlap of the areas and that can be a good thing.
This event opens a better understanding of the numbers of and type of feathered creatures that can be expected in your patch.
There are counts for some other species around the nation and after some time it takes the guess work out of the equation and provides some hard evidence.
If you are applying for finance through a landcare grant can give extra credibility to your interest.
This program suits a school project and any group of interested community members.
Flying birds, floating and swimming birds are all eligible for the count.
Involve friends, cousins, the school and neighbors.
Stock agents are experienced animal counters and a local might give useful tips on how to make the most out of the daunting process.
Apply through birdlife annual bird count.