You may not know it, but there’s a lot you can do for Australia's birds from the comfort of your own home — from creating a bird-friendly garden to submitting a seasonal survey — you can make a difference by taking action in your own backyard. Find out more about the Birds in Backyards project.
Urban environments are built for people, but they’re not always good for birds. By conducting surveys and creating bird-friendly habitat, Birds in Backyards seeks to make our urban backyards better places for birds.
Through Birds in Backyards , we undertake surveys to better understand how birds survive in our cities and towns. We also lead initiatives to create places where birds can live, feed, breed and bring up their families.
Just one 20-minute survey each season provides us with vital information. Our seasonal surveys run all year round, and there are great prizes to be won.
Birds need a home to live, breed and bring up their families. This means food, shelter, water and nesting sites, which are normally provided within their natural environments. In urban areas, we can help birds by planting appropriate local native plants, protecting hollow-bearing trees, installing bird baths, and by keeping domestic pets under control.
Birds in Backyards surveys help to provide invaluable knowledge to our team of scientists. It helps us to know how our urban birds are doing and how different gardens and their features impact birds. It also informs us about the types of gardens that can attract different types of birds – and what features some birds may be avoiding.
Also, countless backyards have been transformed through Birds in Backyards to make them more bird friendly. After many years of running the project, native birds can now find refuge in sanctuaries dotted throughout Australia’s cities and towns.
Seasonal Birds in Backyards surveys are easy to do, only take 20 minutes, and provide useful information for protecting birds in our cities.
Conservation starts in your backyard. The plants that we choose for our gardens can provide most, sometimes even all, of the food, shelter and nesting resources that urban birds require. So when you are deliberating over which plants to add your garden, it’s useful to consider the following.
