Birds of our backyard
Birds act as backyard barometers, indicating the health of the environment surrounding us. How does Canterbury shape up?
Thousands of garden birds were counted in last year’s longest running citizen science project, the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. After months of number-crunching, Manaaki Whenua has released the findings.
Across the region, a record 983 gardens were surveyed by volunteer bird counters and the results compiled by researchers using specialised statistical tools to account for variables.
“We are seeing stable or increasing short-term trends for all five native bird species we track in the State of NZ Garden Birds report,” says Dr. Angela Brandt, Senior Researcher in Ecology at Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research and coordinator of the NZ Garden Bird Survey.
Over a five year period, the Tūī is the only garden bird of those counted to show a rapid increase in Canterbury. The Greenfinch shows a moderate increase and bellbird (korimako) shows a shallow increase. “While the NZGBS data can’t tell us what is causing these increases, the trends suggest that the environment could be becoming more favourable for these species – and we know that there have been significant efforts to control predators and restore forest habitats over the same time period that we report on,” Angela says.
Rapidly or moderately declining, according to the survey are the goldfinch and pahirini (chaffinch). Three introduced species demonstrate a shallow decline over five years – the tiu (house sparrow), song thrush, and dunnock (hedgesparrow). “These declines mirror the national short-term declines for these species, so the reasons for them could be broader than just what’s happening in Canterbury. It will be helpful to see if these short-term declines continue, and if they start to differ among regions, so we hope all New Zealanders will join us in counting birds in their gardens during this year’s survey,” Angela explains.
The pīwakawaka (fantail), tauhou (silvereye), manu pango (blackbird), tāringi (starling) and kererū show little to no change in their short-term trends. Find more at gardenbirdsurvey.nz.
Create your own bird-friendly haven
- Plant native species for fruit, foliage, and nectar
- Manage weeds and predators
- Offer the appropriate supplementary feeding with care
- Provide plenty of water and a bird bath
- Notice and make an effort to learn about birds and nature.
