The next RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch will take place from 28th – 30th January 2017. This is the biggest event of its kind in the world, with over half a million households taking part every year. It is a chance for you to find out which birds visit your garden, and also to contribute to a piece of ‘citizen science’, helping the RSPB and other organisations monitor the health and welfare of our wildlife.
Gardens cover an estimated ten million acres, the equivalent size of five million football pitches, a space bigger than all of the country’s nature reserves combined. Each one can make a difference to wildlife, from providing nectar-rich plants, to bird boxes, ponds and feeders. In 2016, the most commonly seen birds were the House Sparrow, Starling, Blue Tit, Blackbird and Woodpigeon. The fortunes of different birds have changed over the 37 years since the BGBW first began. We’ve lost more than half our House Sparrows and about three-quarters of our Starlings. But it isn’t all doom and gloom. Blue Tit numbers have risen by 20% and the Woodpigeon population has increased by a whopping 800%.
To take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch, all you have to do is either visit the RSPB website and use the online counting tool to enter the birds and animals you see over a period of one hour during the weekend, or record your sightings with pen and paper, and send the results to the RSPB. Only record the highest number of any species that you see at one time, not the total over the hour, or some individuals may get recorded more than once. If you don’t have a garden, you can record the birds and animals in your local park or any other green space.
For more information, visit www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch