Between 10 and 13 households have taken part each year with four of these participating each year. We really appreciate your participation. Long term, the garden bird survey will provide an indication of trends in bird numbers around Okareka.
The average number of each bird species seen in a garden was calculated by averaging across all gardens. Calculating the average using gardens where birds are fed gave similar results.
The average number for 2016 was lower/slightly lower than in 2014 and 2015 for several species including blackbird, house sparrow, silvereye, greenfinch, myna, song thrush, and starling. In contrast, the average number of tui was higher than in 2014 and 2015, while the average number of bellbird and kereru were slightly higher.
The most commonly observed species (seen in 60% or more of the gardens in each year) were bellbird, blackbird, house sparrow, kereru, silvereye and tui. It is not known whether these observations reflect a real increase/ decrease in bird numbers, or whether other factors influenced the presence of birds during the survey period. For instance, one participant noted that some species normally seen in their garden were not present during the survey period. Also this year, the survey period was much wetter than in the two previous years. Results from a longer period than three years are needed to establish long-term trends.
The National Garden Bird Survey has now been running for 10 years and some of the results can be found on the internet (type New Zealand Garden Bird Survey in your browser).
Jenny Grace for Landcare Okareka
Thank you to Jenny for analysing the survey results and preparing the report.