Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research's video: LINKOnline Webinar: Tweet tweet we re making our birds count

Birds are important indicators of the health of New Zealand’s environment. They perform many important ecosystem functions and have inherent value, some species as taonga. If we see birds begin to decline, that suggests something has changed in their habitat, perhaps an increase in predators or a decrease in available food and shelter, which could also be affecting other species. The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey (NZGBS) is NZ’s longest-running citizen science programme; since 2007, over 39,000 garden surveys have been submitted. To understand what our garden birds are signalling about changes in the environment, we have estimated how bird counts have changed over the last 10− and 5−year periods in different regions, districts, and neighbourhoods across NZ. This webinar provides an overview of the specialised statistical tools we use to estimate bird counts and identify changes of potential concern or interest. We also outline the social and community engagement benefits of the NZGBS. You too can participate and promote the NZGBS using the resources on our website: https://gardenbirdsurvey.landcareresearch.co.nz/