National Bird Week is in full squawk, and Parkes shire residents are furiously counting the many different winged creatures in their midst as part of Birdlife Australia's Aussie Backyard Bird Count for 2021.
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BirdLife Australia's Sean Dooley said it was simple to participate, and vital for scientists assessing the our bird life.
"Individuals participating in the Aussie Backyard Bird Count simply take part by spending 20 minutes in their favourite outdoor space and recording the birds they see during that time," he said.
"Results from the count can be submitted using the app or website form.
"The results help BirdLife Australia obtain important information about our birds and determine trends which may indicate which species need greater support," said Mr Dooley.
Mr Dooley said 2020, a year many spent in lockdown, was another bumper count - but he is hoping for even better participation this year.
"In 2020, Australia counted more than 4.6 million birds in seven days during the count," he said.
"The states with the most counters were Victoria and New South Wales, so we would like to see the other states and territories make it more competitive in 2021."
Last year's count helped reveal a somewhat disturbing trend, with small birds declining all over the country, and Mr Dooley said Birdlife Australia was keen to see if that trend has continued.
"The reporting rates of fairy-wrens have almost halved over the past seven years," he said.
"These much-loved birds are usually found in suburbs that have corridors of native bushland close by, so their rapid disappearance, along with a number of other small bush birds, is cause for grave concern.
"More Counters in rural areas will also allow us to compare how birds are faring in the city as compared to out in the bush and the rest of the country.
"The more counts that come in, the more confident we can be in what is happening and be able to take action to fix what's causing these losses," said Mr Dooley.
Small birds do still dominate the count in our region, with the Parkes Champion Post looking at 12 different counts submitted in the Parkes shire.
The adorable little Willie Wagtail was counted in every single one, to retain it's title as the most commonly counted bird in the area.
Crested Pigeons were also spotted frequently, alongside the Magpie-lark, Magpie, Superb Fairy Wren, Apostlebird and Galah.
What else did our eagle-eyed (yep, pun intended) spotters manage to count?
Parkes Shire
The usual suspects
In brackets: how many counts the bird appeared in
- Crested Pigeon (10)
- Yellow-throated Miner
- Willie Wagtail (12)
- Magpie-lark (8)
- Plover
- Currawong
- Superb Fairy-wren (7)
- Noisy Miner (4)
- Blackbird (3)
- Sparrow (6)
- Australian Raven (4)
- Little Raven (3)
- Currawong (2)
- Apostlebird (7)
- White-winged Chough (5)
- Magpie (10)
Raptors
- Nankeen Kestrel
- Peregrine Falcon
- Wedge-tailed Eagle
Parrots
- Rainbow Lorikeet
- Suphur-crested Cockatoo (2)
- Galah (7)
- Australian Ringneck (2)
- Eastern Rosella (5)
- Red-rumped Parrot (2)
Little guys
- Honeyeaters: Spiny-cheeked, Yellow-faced, Blue-faced (3), White-plumed and White-cheeked
- Common Greenfinch
- Welcome Swallow (3)
- Yellow Thornbill (3)
- Doubled-barred Finch
Water birds
- Pacific Black Duck
- Australian Wood Duck
- Eurasian Coot
- Black Swan
Not quite as common
- Heathwren: Chestnut-rumped and White-browed
- Brown Quail
- Kookaburra (2)
- Cuckoo: Fan-tailed and Black-faced
- Yellow-rumped Thornbill
- Butcherbirds: Pied (4) and Grey (2)
- Striated Pardalote (2)
- Common Starling
- Southern Boobook
- Grey-crowned Babbler
- Spotted Bowerbird (2)
- Sacred Kingfisher
- White-winged Triller
- Rufous Songlark (2)
- Dusky Woodswallow
- Brown Treecreeper
- Red Wattlebird
- Friarbirds: Noisy and Little
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Forbes Shire
Obviously the geography of the our southern neighbours is a little different, so here's some of the different birds they spotted
Parrots
- Rainbow Bee-eater
- Superb Parrot
- Cockatiel
- Corella
Not quite as common
- Jacky Winter
- White-eared Honeyeater
- Buff-rumped Thornbill
- Silvereye
- Fairy Martin
- Grey Strike-thrush
Water birds
- Eurasian Coot
- Dusky Moorhen
- Australasian Grebe
- Straw-necked Ibis
- Grey Teal
- Hardhead
Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content:
Bookmark www.parkeschampionpost.com.au
Follow us on Facebook
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