2011 National Garden Bird Survey - preliminary results

Preliminary results from the 2011 Garden Bird Survey show a large drop in the number of silvereyes.

From 1445 survey returns processed to date, the average number of silvereyes was less than half the number counted last year (6.5 compared with 13.2 per garden). Survey participants made comments such as, ‘Where are all the silvereyes?’ and ‘The lowest number of silvereyes we’ve had in years’.

The low number of silvereyes this year may be a result of the mild winter. The lack of snow and frosts may mean there is still plenty of natural food around, so birds have not been forced into gardens in search of food.

The average number of house sparrows counted this year was similar to last year (12.9 compared with 12.6 per garden). The counts of most other species also appear to be similar to last year. The final results won’t be known for some months, after all the data have been entered into the computer and checked for accuracy.

Up-to-date results can be found by clicking 'View current results' and looking at the last column for the average number of birds per garden. Please note there are some spurious results such as piopio, which will be deleted when the data are edited.

The long-term aim of the survey is to determine trends in bird numbers over time. In particular, we want to know if the numbers of native birds such as tui, bellbird, kereru, grey warbler, and fantail are increasing or decreasing in our gardens.

It would not be possible to do the survey without help from the public, which is greatly appreciated.

*Preliminary results after 1445 returns