Counting the birds that visit your garden during the end of January will help provide valuable information about our winter wildlife
MORE THAN HALF a million people will be watching and counting their garden birds for the 2017 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch (BGBW), taking place from 28-30 January. Since it began 38 years ago, it has provided valuable information about the wildlife using our gardens in winter. Sightings of well-known species such as Starlings and Song Thrushes experienced another drop during the Big Garden Birdwatch last year. This worrying decline continues a trend that has seen the number of both species visiting gardens decline by 81% and 89% respectively since the first BGBW in 1979. But it wasn’t all bad news. The tiny Long-tailed Tit flew into the Big Garden Birdwatch top 10 – for the first time in eight years – after the average number seen visiting gardens across the UK increased by 44%. Daniel Hayhow, RSPB Conservation Scientist said: “With more than half a million people now regularly taking part, coupled with more than 30 years’ worth of data, Big Garden Birdwatch allows us to monitor trends and helps us understand how birds are doing. With results from so many gardens, we are able to create a ‘snapshot’ of the birds visiting at this time of year across the UK.” In some years, large numbers of Waxwings arrive on the east coast in search of their favourite food, red berries. These events are known as ‘irruptions’ and happen in years when there are too many Waxwings and not enough berries in north-east Europe and Russia. This seems to be a Waxwing winter, with hundreds of the birds being seen across the country. It’s unlikely Waxwings will ever reach the Big Garden Birdwatch top 10, but we would expect more people to spot them in their gardens this year. In excess of half-a-million people joined in the world’s largest garden wildlife survey in 2016 spotting more than 8.5 million birds. The House Sparrow remained top of the Big Garden Birdwatch rankings, with Starling and Blue Tit rounding off the top three. To take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch 2017, watch the birds in your garden or local park for one hour at some point over the three days. Only count the birds that land in your garden or local park. You could use your findings towards your #My200birdyear All family members can get involved in the Big Garden Birdwatch