The RSPB has once again launched the Big Garden Birdwatch. So, between 23–25 January, nature lovers will spend an hour recording the birds that land in their garden or local green space. The collective findings create an annual, long-term “snapshot” of garden bird populations across the UK. It is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey.
As a volunteer at RSPB Minsmere, I know the value of these Big Garden Birdwatch events. On the reserve, we are constantly monitoring the movement of species of birds that visit the site. Throughout the year, there are migrants, breeding species, the spring and autumn passages of waders, ducks, smaller birds, and year-round residents that stay with us through the four seasons.
Knowing changes in numbers and species is valuable information enabling effective management of the reserve. By participating in the Big Garden Birdwatch, hundreds of thousands of citizen scientists will contribute to a single, robust dataset that would be impossible for professional scientists to collect alone. In the past 40 years, more than 200 million birds have been counted.
Habitat is critical
Habitat management, and the monitoring of water levels, woodland, fauna and conditions, are vital to the survival of all species, including mammals and insects. Like our gardens, reserves need care and management if we want wildlife to visit or make their homes there. It is that care and attention that gives wildlife the support to flourish and survive, and secures a future for them.
Without gardens and suitable habitats in any country, the wildlife population would decline and extinction would be certain for untold species. So, those yearly garden watches and recordings really are effective to help secure the future of wildlife in our wonderful gardens, reserves, woodlands, marshes and estuaries, across the British Isles.
The rewards of monitoring
The wonderful thing about the Big Garden Birdwatch citizen science project is that it reveals key scientific benefits:
- Population monitoring and trend analysis: The survey, running since 1979, allows scientists to track long-term trends in bird species’ numbers and distribution. The consistent methodology over decades makes the data valuable for year-on-year comparisons.
- Early warning system: It acts as an early warning system for species in decline. For example, it was one of the first surveys to alert the RSPB to the significant drop in song thrush and greenfinch populations, allowing for targeted research and conservation efforts.
- Identifying causes of decline: The data helps scientists investigate the potential causes of population changes. Research sparked by the Garden Bird Watch has explored factors like the lack of invertebrates for sparrow chicks, avian malaria in house sparrows and the spread of the disease trichomonosis in finches.
- Informing conservation strategy and policy: The large-scale data collected across the country informs the RSPB’s conservation work, helps prioritise which species need help, and provides evidence to convince governments and other decision-makers to act and put protective policies in place.
- Understanding indicator species: The abundance of certain birds acts as an indicator of the overall health of ecosystems. For example, song thrushes signal soil health, while swallows indicate the abundance of flying insects.
- Fine-scale data collection: The mass participation provides data at a much finer spatial scale (linked to postcodes) than other monitoring schemes. This offers detailed insights into local variations in bird populations.
A garden is a nature reserve
As an RSPB volunteer, wildlife photographer and a conservation advocate, I decided, when we moved to our new home with a larger garden, to turn the garden over to wildlife. Now, years later, with a small pond, fruit trees, vegetables plots and a place to sit, the family can relax and enjoy all the species of birds, insects and mammals that have also made their home here.
One special moment was when a sparrow hawk started to visit our garden, enjoying a bath on most days. Meanwhile, the other birds remained on the feeders. They knew the sparrow hawk was no threat to them while bathing. It was especially amazing to see, as those other birds visited often – but not to bath.
Among the creatures that visit our gardens are migrants and common species that move about the country, using gardens as bus stops, nesting areas, or passages to other locations nearby. These ‘wildlife corridors’ are so important as they allow species to populate areas that otherwise would be cut off. They allow their expansion and secure the future of a vast number of species throughout the UK.
So, a garden is like a reserve and gives nature a home wherever it might be. That is why the Big Garden Birdwatch is as important as all the studies done on all the wildlife reserves, estuaries and woodlands. The results from this massive scale observation across the country gives us all a better picture of how our precious wildlife is progressing – or not. What’s more, the invaluable scientific data tells us what we will need to do in our environment and what action to take to preserve all wildlife here in the UK.
Details of how to participate in the Big Garden Birdwatch and more information.
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