RSPB’s numbers game marks 40th birthday

People across Scotland are being invited to devote an hour of their time this weekend to help conservationists get a snapshot of how our wildlife is faring.

The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is described by the charity as the world’s largest garden wildlife survey.

The organisation is marking 40 years of the citizen science project, which began in 1979. RSPB Scotland director Anne McCall said: “With thousands of participants across Scotland, it’s clear that people are truly passionate about their garden wildlife. It’s a huge achievement to reach 40 years of the survey, and it reflects what an enjoyable and accessible experience it is.”

Under the project, people are asked to watch the birds in their garden or local park for one hour at some point tomorrow, Sunday or Monday.

Only the birds that land can be counted, not those flying overhead.

People are then invited to report the highest number of each bird species they see at any one time – not the total seen in the hour – to the charity.

Participants can also log some of the other wildlife they have seen throughout the year, such as foxes, hedgehogs or red squirrels.

Over the last four decades, hundreds of thousands of people have volunteered their time, providing more than eight million hours of monitoring garden birds, RSPB Scotland said.

Across 40 years, the survey has shown increases across the UK in collared dove and wood pigeon numbers and declines in house sparrows and starlings.

Keith Morton, RSPB Scotland senior species policy officer, said: “Big Garden Birdwatch is an opportunity to capture information on the wildlife visitors to your garden in an enjoyable, easy and inclusive way.”

The results of the survey can be submitted online at rspb.org.uk/ birdwatch

Log an interest: A blue tit.