It’s the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch at the end of January (23rd-25th), and it’s a great time for you to take part in one of the largest (if not the largest) citizen science* projects in the world. Last year, over half a million people took part in the birdwatch, counting 9.1 million birds in Britain’s backyards. That might sound like a lot, but sadly there has been a massive decline in Britain’s birds since the first bird watch – more than 38 million birds have disappeared from UK skies. That’s why the birdwatch is so essential – the first part of fighting a problem, is knowing the numbers. Only then can practical solutions be considered.

*Citizen Science is an activity by the general public where data is collected or analysed, and is most often done in conjunction with professional research scientists. Many projects rely on citizen scientists volunteering a little bit of their time in order to collect or record data because, simply put, scientists can’t be everywhere at once and need our help!

So what is the Big Garden Birdwatch?

Well, you’ll need an hour at some point on the dates 23rd-25th January to sit and watch your garden/outside space, and then count how many birds of different types you see at any one time, before reporting back to the RSPB using this website. So, for example, if at one point you see two blackbirds in your garden, you’d write down two, but if those blackbirds leave and three more appear, you’d only write down three – not five – as you record the maximum seen at any one time. I guess the point of this is that we can’t be sure that we’re not double counting if we just count the number of instances, rather than how many at any one time. Phew! Hope that made sense!

One of the questions that often gets asked is why do the RSPB do the birdwatch in January? I have to say, I’ve wondered this myself, but apparently the answer is because this is the month when our garden birds need us the most – it’s cold, and there’s been no fresh food around for a while. The RSPB encourages you to stock up on garden goodies (bird food/seed etc.) to tempt birds into your garden for the count.

Last year’s top 10 in England, respectively, was: House Sparrow, Blue Tit, Woodpigeon, Starling, Blackbird, Robin, Great Tit, Goldfinch, Magpie, and Long-Tailed Tit, with seven out of those ten seeing a rise in the average count since 2024… which I guess can only be a good thing? In the UK as a whole, the line up was the same, but only six of the ten had seen an increase (the UK as a whole saw a fall in the number of Great Tits, but they increased in England when viewed on it’s own).

Anyway, you can find out everything you need to know at the Big Garden Birdwatch website where you can sign up for a guide and all sorts of other things. Be sure to take part, as the RSPB can only work towards helping our garden birds if they know the numbers and the big picture of how things are looking all around the UK. So, get a wee bit of bird food, your binoculars (if you need them – our garden is small enough that we don’t!), and an hour of time to just sit and watch the birds. Enjoy the peace!