Learning how to pause for a moment to watch the wildlife in your garden is the aim of a workshop taking place this weekend.
Open Valley Urban Ecosanctuary (Open VUE) community engagement co-ordinator Clare Cross said the garden bird identification workshop would provide tips for identifying birds even when glimpsed for a brief moment.
"Particularly ones that are often quite far away, and you can maybe only see shadows or silhouettes."
Location and behaviour could help narrow down the species, for example blackbirds foraged on the ground looking for little invertebrates.
"Whereas if it was a bird that was, sort of, flitting around some of the trees and making quite quick manoeuvres, I might think it was a fantail because that is how they feed — they chase after invertebrates that are flying around."
Walking through Chingford Park recently Miss Cross said species that could be observed included blackbirds, tui, kererū, fantails, eastern rosellas, paradise shelducks, plovers and seagulls.
Birds NZ Otago representative Mary Thompson is presenting the workshop which will help prepare people to take part in the New Zealand Garden Bird survey which runs from Saturday, June 24 to Sunday, July 2.
"The garden bird survey is a nationwide citizen science project, getting people out in their backyards, and local public spaces, to look for different birdlife that they see and hear," Miss Cross said.
The survey has been running since 2007 and it helps researchers to understand how birds are coping with environmental challenges.
"Because birds are really good indicators of environmental health, they can then use that data to figure out how healthy the environment is."
Miss Cross said the survey took place in winter because that was when native forest birds ventured into more urban spaces such as gardens looking for food.
People were encouraged to spend one hour watching either inside or outside counting birds in their local area, then entering the results into the garden bird survey website.
Spending time bird watching was very pleasant, Miss Cross said.
"Personally I feel relaxed and refreshed and I think it really recharges that social battery in a way because it is quite peaceful.
"You are not having to do anything else — your focus is on the birds and watching the birds and seeing what their behaviour is and what they’ve done."
— Visit gardenbirdsurvey.nz to find out more information.
Workshop
Garden bird identification
This Sunday, 2pm to 3.30pm
Valley Project Community Rooms, 262 North Rd.
The workshop is run by Open VUE with the help of Birds NZ and City Sanctuary.
