Aussie Backyard Bird Count

Published on 01 October 2020

Everyone is welcome to get involved in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count, which asks participants to watch and count the number of birds they see over a 20-minute period.  

Run by BirdLife Australia, the Aussie Backyard Bird Count runs from 19 to 25 October, which is also National Bird Week. 

The count can happen anywhere participants consider their ‘backyard’ – this may be a local park, a patch of bush, on the main street of town, or your actual back yard. The main thing is that you stay in the same place for the 20 minutes – you can’t take a walk and do the count.  

For those that consider the Wimmera River their ‘backyard’, springtime is a wonderful season to spot a wide variety of water and inland birds which choose to nest there.   

Participants can undertake the 20-minute count as many times as they like over the week. The data collected helps BirdLife Australia learn more about the birds that live in proximity to people, and the year-to-year trends of bird communities.  

To help with counting the birds you identify (either by sight or by its call). There is an Aussie Bird Count app, where you can enter your species count on the spot. This app also operates as a handy field guide for birds. Bird counts can also be submitted through the online web platform which will be available from October 14.  

In 2019, close to 90,000 people participated in the count with more than 3.3 million birds in the tally. The top 10 most spotted birds across Australia were (in order) Rainbow Lorikeet, Noisy Miner, Australian Magpie, Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Galah, House Sparrow, Silver Gull, Common Myna, Welcome Swallow and Australian White Ibis. In Victoria, the top three counted birds were the Australian Magpie, Rainbow Lorikeet and House Sparrow.  

To register as a counter for 2020, visit the Aussie Bird Count website 

Pictured: Rosella in a tree on the banks of the Wimmera River