A new term has entered the bird-watching lexicon thanks to the coronavirus pandemic – home birding.
The phrase has been coined by the internationally renowned Laboratory of Ornithology at Cornwell University in the United States to describe how nature-lovers worldwide have coped with lockdown and isolation.
Prevented from going in search of birds, birders have looked closer to home. But the notion of birdwatching in the garden or even from the front window is not confined to frustrated amateur and professional birders grounded by the lockdown. It also applies to people who have not previously showed a passion for birds or wildlife in general. Right across the world, people confined to their homes have discovered wildlife literally on their doorstep. To continue using clichés, the lockdown has opened a window on the wonderful, colourful world of birds.
At home, the annual Aussie Backyard Bird Count in October recorded not only record numbers of birds, but record numbers of counters. There were 108,207 participants, ticking off 4,654,239 birds. These amounted to 610 species out of the 830 found across the nation.
Although bird-watchers were for many months under lockdown and could not leave their neighbourhoods, this year’s backyard count presented restless citizen scientists with an opportunity to unite around a common cause: to observe and report on their local birds.
Backyard birders during the pandemic were also spurred on by health professionals who said that getting out into nature and viewing wildlife could reduce tension and anxiety at a time of stress, and even lower blood pressure.
The count had greater significance this year because, far from being a fun exercise to list common garden species, the surveys are also being used to provide vital information on the disruption of birdlife caused by the bushfires last year.
Studies estimate that at least 180 million birds were wiped out by the 2020 summer bushfires, but a significant number of wild birds sought refuge from the devastation in the gardens and parks of places that survived the flames.
BirdLife Australia, the organiser of the backyard count, says as we face the next bushfire season, tracking birdlife is vital to monitor trends in the recovery of native-bird populations.
Although Tasmania was not affected by the bushfires last summer a snapshot of bird numbers in suburbs is still important for conservation efforts. Hobart, for instance, is home to the critically endangered swift parrot, which visits suburban gardens in spring before heading to breeding grounds along the east and south-eastern coast.
During the backyard count I didn’t spot any swift parrots in the gums in my neighbourhood, as I sometimes do, but I turned up four of the 12 species only found in Tasmania – the black-headed and yellow-throated honeyeater, the black currawong and the green rosellas.
The green rosellas made my day – sharing airspace with a family of yellow-tailed black cockatoos.