The 2025 Aussie Bird Count is about to start. Here’s how to take part – and why you should | Birds

How to participate in the Aussie Bird Count

Participation does not require any prior birding experience.

Sean Dooley, BirdLife Australia’s ‘chief bird enthusiast’, says the process has been designed to be accessible to everyone:

1. Register online.

2. Choose a location. Choose any location, your backyard, your balcony, your local park or your work window.

3. Take 20 minutes. Quietly observe and record the birds you see and hear in this location.

4. Submit your comments. Record species and numbers via the free Australian Bird Count app or the BirdLife Australia website.

The app offers an identification tool that allows users to enter the size, color and shape of a bird to get a list of possible candidates.

Participants can count as many times as they wish during the week, as long as each count lasts 20 minutes and is submitted separately.

Why participate in the Aussie Bird Count?

Last year, more than 57,000 participants collectively recorded 4.1 million birds.

Aggregated data is a powerful tool, especially as one in six Australian bird species are now threatened.

After more than a decade of reporting, the annual count allows BirdLife Australia to track long-term population changes, identify which species are thriving and understand the impact of urban development on our diverse bird communities.

It is a simple and meditative act that contributes to a collective goal.

“It really is a fundamental experience, I find it incredibly relaxing, and the feedback we get from people is just that,” Dooley said.

How powerful is a single survey?

Each survey acts like a “pixel in a national snapshot,” says Dooley. “The more pixels we have, the clearer the images.”

Count results indicate that some species are thriving more than others.

Last year, the rainbow lorikeet dominated the event as the most numerous bird recorded across the country – a position it has held since counting began in 2014. It was followed by the noisy miner and the Australian magpie.

Dooley says common, bold species continue to thrive, often at the expense of smaller, more vulnerable birds. Aggressive species, such as noisy miners, crows, crows and butcher birds, are increasingly competing for urban real estate, driving out smaller birds.

“After 11 years of bird counts, we see that the common birds continue to do well: the rainbow lorikeet, the noisy miner, the magpie, the red wattle, the lesser corella,” says Dooley.

Although it came third, the magpie was seen by more people than any other species, spotted by one in two participants who completed the count.

However, the data also highlights worrying trends. “Bird count trends show declining reporting rates of small garden birds – including silvereyes and willy wagtails in almost every city,” says Dooley.