Winter is for the birds

Welcome garden birds with a great feed and, while you’re at it, count them too.

With naturally available summer bounty withering under cool breezes, this time of year heralds an influx of birds to our urban spaces. To boost this birdlife – and get set for the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey this month – now is the time to get to work on making your garden a safe, nourishing haven.

Back from their summer foraging spots in the bush and forest, birds are returning to yards around the country to seek out food and shelter.

That’s why winter is the perfect time for the NZ Garden Bird Survey (NZGBS), an annual count of bird populations around the country, undertaken by citizen scientists of all ages. Led by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research, the survey is easy to do and provides important data each year to help researchers understand the movements and numbers of both native and introduced bird species, and in turn, the health of our environment.

It involves choosing an hour between 24 June and 2 July and tallying up the birds that visit your patch. Using the NZGBS’s identification guide, you can check off the species that come to your garden and then send it through to the researchers to analyse.

Planting nectarful natives and fruit-bearing shrubs is a sure way to bring in birdlife while bug hotels or stashes of leaf litter can provide insect protein for hungry birds. And don’t forget a bird bath - clean water for drinking and bathing is scarcer than you might think.

An excellent option is to offer supplementary nutritious nectar and energy-rich vegetable fat. Topflite’s Garden Bird Supporter’s Pack, a collaboration with Manaaki Whenua comes with a selection of food, an easy-hang feeder, as well as a NZGBS activity pack with bird identification tips and tally sheets.

So, get the garden set – you’ll soon be tallying your tūī and checking off your chaffinches as you make a contribution to science from the comfort of your own garden chair.

Visit shop.topflite.co.nz for your Garden Bird Supporter’s Pack