NZ Garden Bird Survey logo

24 June – 2 July 2023

Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa – The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey

Make our birds count

We need you to help make a difference

Healthy bird populations can indicate that the environment is healthy. We know lots about endangered native birds in the bush, but we don’t always know what’s happening in the populations of all the birds around us, particularly in urban and garden environments.

That’s why we need you to help us count them.

What we learn from information about the birds in your garden collected by you and your fellow citizen scientists helps our researchers make decisions to protect our environment. It also tells us if what we are doing in areas such as predator control is working.

Add the 2023 Garden Bird Survey to your calendar

Save the date for this year's survey

This year’s survey starts in

State of NZ Garden Birds 2022 | Te Āhua o ngā Manu o te Kāri i Aotearoa

What are our birds telling us?

Birds act as backyard barometers – telling us about the health of the environment we live in. They are signalling significant changes in our environment over the last 10 years. We should be listening.

Using cutting−edge techniques, Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research has distilled a substantial information base – bird counts gathered by New Zealanders from almost 44,000 garden surveys since 2012 – into simple but powerful metrics.

Thank you to all the citizen scientists who participated in the survey in 2022. It was a great turnout.

Full report »
Report cover: State of NZ Garden Birds 2022 | Te Āhua o ngā Manu o te Kāri i Aotearoa
State of NZ Garden Birds 2022 | Te Āhua o ngā Manu o te Kāri i Aotearoa
Resources to take part in the garden bird survey

Take part

Help build a picture of changes in our environment.

Identification

Identify birds commonly seen around Aotearoa’s gardens, schools and parks.

School group taking part in the survey

Children & teachers

Get your students engaged in science and nature for the day.

Garden Bird Survey resources

Resources

Digital and print resources for the NZ Garden Bird Survey.

Survey results

Results

Birds are signalling changes in our environment.

News

What’s going on?

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Thank you to our long-term supporters

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