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Spring is a season of new life – and heralds not only the breeding season for many of birds, but also migratory movements of some of our most beloved, (and some of our most controversial) species. We had 1327 surveys come in from 523 gardens across Australia for the Birds in Backyards spring survey period – with 323 different bird species seen.

As Bird Week fast approaches (Oct 14-20), here at BirdLife Australia, we’re excited to offer two awesome ways for bird lovers to help out: the Aussie Bird Count and the Birds in Backyards seasonal surveys. While both projects aim to gather important data on our feathered neighbours they each have their own unique focus and method.

University of Sydney Honours student Liam Doherty has just completed his thesis looking at the potential for different types of artificial hollows (aka not the traditional timber nest boxes) to provide habitat for Gang-gang Cockatoos. This research was funded by the NSW Twitchathon and done in collaboration with BirdLife Australia and Campbelltown City Council. Liam writes:

We can sometimes think that our garden visitors are the same day in and day out. But even taking a look at the Top 10 list from Birds in Backyards this Autumn, we see some major changes compared to our common Summer birds.

Here’s a snapshot of the top 10 species and their reporting rates (% of times they were seen in surveys) - out of a whopping 290 different species sighted: