01 March 2021
With the worldwide downturn in travel keeping us close to home in 2020, there was no better place to be than your own backyard during the annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count and Southern Downs residents were lucky enough to have a diverse and colourful range of native birds to report on.
BirdLife Australia has been hard at work compiling the results from the count conducted between 19 – 25 October 2020, which are now in.
The first ever Aussie Backyard Bird Count was conducted in 2014 as part of BirdLife Australia’s National Bird Week celebrations and has grown to one of the largest citizen science projects in Australia. The data collected plays a vital role in providing important information to conservationists about threatened bird species, highlights the cultural and ecological importance of birds and promotes our national passion for our native species.
Over 195 citizen scientists from the Southern Downs participated in the 2020 count which saw the Little Corella crow victory as the most sighted bird across the region. A total of 397 checklists where submitted and observers recorded a total of 12,567 individual birds from 179 bird species.
SDRC Manager Environmental and Regulatory Services, Craig Magnussen said: “The Southern Downs region is an extraordinary birdwatching destination and programs like Birds in Backyards encourages residents to learn about the region’s native species from their own back yard.
“Changes in gardening practices and weather events such as drought impact on habitat and migratory habits of many native species and the results from the annual bird count can help BirdLife Australia formulate subsequent management decisions.
“Council is currently inviting community feedback on the draft Environmental Sustainability Strategy for the Southern Downs of which ‘Protecting nature’ forms one of the four core pillars. Council’s draft 10-year target is to map, zone and protect 100% of sensitive environmental lands across the region and with 15 bird species on the Southern Downs currently listed as threatened in the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) this body of work will go a long way in protecting habitat for native bird species.”
BirdLife Australia is a charitable organisation working alongside councils and corporate organisations to conserve native birds and biological diversity in Australasia and Antarctica through the study and management of birds and their habitats and the education and involvement of the community.
The 2021 Aussie Backyard Bird Count is eagerly anticipated and will run from October 18-24. Make sure you save the date!
To have your say on the draft Southern Downs Environmental Sustainability Strategy, visit https://bit.ly/3plzFw2 to complete the online survey before 5pm Thursday 4 March 2021.