Environment / Animals

Garden Bird Survey giving insight into trends

08:54 am on 13 March 2023

Listen

Birders are recording more kererū, piwakawaka, and tūī in their backyards each year, according to the garden bird survey.

Manaaki Whenua - landcare research - has been co-ordinating the mid-winter citizen science project for 16 years. 

It's now noting longer-term trends, such as population growth slowing, for instance, tūī counts increased 266 percent in the last decade - but that slowed to just a 25 percent increase over the last five years. 

Meanwhile, bellbird - korimako - numbers have fallen more than a quarter in several regions. 

Survey co-ordinator Dr Angela Brandt spoke to Jane Patterson.