Count me in: Take part in the annual garden bird census
Natuurpunt is looking for volunteers to count the birds they see in their garden, to give an accurate picture of how local species are doing
Free as a bird
The idea behind the census is simple. “We provide the materials to carry out the counting,” explains Natuurpunt spokesperson Hendrik Moeremans. “People go out in their gardens and count the birds they see. We also offer flash cards that help people recognise the species.”
Last year, more than 16,000 enthusiasts took part. That’s a lot of data on Flanders’ bird population. “It’s precisely this massive amount of data that makes the annual count so valuable,” says Moeremans. “We merge this data with the results of more structural and scientific bird counting in one report. These combined results give an accurate overview of how Flanders’ bird species are currently doing.”
The count shows some interesting tendencies. While year after year, the house sparrow, the common chaffinch and the great tit make up the top three of the list, other species are more volatile.
“The number of common starlings, for example, diminishes every year,” says Moeremans, “and we expect to see fewer blackbirds this year because a disease has wreaked havoc among the population.”
The results also indicate how bird-friendly our gardens are, he explains. “There is still room for improvement, but it’s going in the right direction. Gardens make up a huge chunk of Flanders’ landscape, so more natural gardens could compensate for how little nature we have left.”
Photo: Wim Dirckx
