Pip Swift

How citizen science is helping to reveal the state of our feathered friends. This is an excerpt from Ellen Ryker’s piece in the Spinoff’s weekly environmental newsletter Future Proof. The annual Garden Bird Survey took place last week, calling on citizen scientists across Aotearoa to count the birds in their backyard, or at their local … Read more

New Zealanders, do your duty and count birds: Tūī: one.KELLY HODEL / WAIKATO TIMES This is an exert from a piece by columnist Virginia Fallon in The Post. OPINION: Sparrow; sparrow; seagull; sparrow; pigeon; sparrow: being a citizen scientist is boring. For 20 minutes now, sparrow, I’ve been standing in the mud and doing my … Read more

This story by John Lewis originally appeared in the Otago Daily Times. While participating in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey is obviously good for birds, it turns out it may also be good for our mental health. The country’s longest-running annual citizen science project begins today, and it is hoped thousands of people will … Read more

This story was originally published by RNZ. The country’s longest running citizen science project, the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey, started Saturday. People are being encouraged to head out into their gardens over the next nine days to spend an hour counting all the birds they see and hear. The survey helps scientists understand the … Read more

This story by Will Harvie originally appeared in The Press. Bird watchers and gardeners are being urged to keep a lookout for feathered visitors as the annual garden bird survey kicks off with hopes strong that tūī sightings will be up again in Canterbury. The annual survey by Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research encourages all New Zealanders … Read more

This story by John Lewis originally appeared in the Otago Daily Times. Ornithologists and bird lovers are aflutter after learning kererū, fantail and tui populations have exploded in the southern regions over the past decade. Survey founder Dr Eric Spurr said results from the 2022 New Zealand Garden Birds Survey showed there had been “positive … Read more

This is an excerpt from a story by William Hansby on Stuff. We’re seeing a lot more native birds in our garden at the moment, including pīwakawaka (fantail), tūī, kōtare (kingfisher) and pihipihi (silvereyes), but they don’t seem to stay for very long. So it was with delight that I read this week the Department of … Read more