Article 26 January 2023

Get involved with the Big Garden Birdwatch this weekend!

In 1979 the RSPB asked all of its members to count the birds that landed in their gardens, all at the exact same time.   When the editor of children’s TV show Blue Peter heard of this he featured it on the programme, and as a result of this publicity, the RSPB received 34,000 forms in their first year!  43 years on and people are still counting the birds in their gardens and reporting this to the RSPB. The Big Garden Birdwatch has become the world’s largest wildlife survey and citizen science project. 

The goal is to monitor which birds are visiting gardens across the country for one hour over this weekend enabling the RSPB to keep track of species to determine which are thriving or declining and identify species migrating and moving into new regions – which can be an indication of climate change. Without the help of the general public this level of data would be too resource intensive to achieve.

Did you know?

• 29% of the native UK bird species are red listed and under threat.
• 70 species of UK bird are considered as under threat.
• 9 species of UK bird are considered to be globally endangered and at risk of extinction.
• The decline of bird species and changes in habitat result in a change in the natural summer soundtrack as birds such as cuckoos decline.

You can get involved in the Big Garden Birdwatch over the next few days, and it’s simple:
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• Choose one hour between 27 – 29 January 2023
• Count the birds you see in your garden, balcony or local park
• Tell the RSPB what you saw

Make your Big Garden Birdwatch count – completing Birdwatch during work hours counts as volunteering.

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