Australia Post has put its stamp of approval on the annual Aussie Bird Count by issuing a set of stamps featuring three of the birds most commonly seen in our backyards and neighbourhoods.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the count, which since its inception has become Australia’s biggest citizen science project. Last year more than 77,000 people took part, counting nearly 4 million birds of 620 species.
The record is expected to be broken this year.
The birds chosen by Australia Post to illustrate the stamps will come as no surprise. The magpie, noisy miner and rainbow lorikeet are all common in suburban and urban areas of Australia although the lorikeet is not native to Tasmania, with escaped caged birds considered a pest here.
The week-long count commences tomorrow and anyone can enter by downloading the event’s app from the Birdlife Australia website.
Participants are required to count birds in a favourite area like a garden or local park for a 20-minute period. Any number of lists can be entered.
The trio of birds on the stamps have in fact been the three most common counted every year so far and information gleaned from the surveys is giving Birdlife Australia researchers vital information about the birds that largely live in our towns and cities.
The birds counted form part of Birdlife Australia’s comprehensive Bird Data project which collates all surveys, including individual ones, to monitor bird populations and the habitats they depend on.
Birds in Australia are under threat as never before with one in six species facing extinction. The surveys help researchers pinpoint areas where bird decline is most serious, and provide vital information on what is causing the decreases in number.
All nature-lovers can become citizen scientists by taking part in the count and achieve a sense they are “making a difference” in preserving not just birds but fauna and flora in general.
The hobby of birdwatching is flourishing as never before, especially after the forced lockdowns of the Covid-19 period. It was during this time that people confined largely to their homes literally discovered wildlife on their doorstep.
As in Australia, birding organisations in the United States and Britain are swelling in number because of the new-found interest.
It’s interesting that the postal authorities have chosen ubiquitous birds for the stamps instead of the dramatic, showy ones among the more than 800 species found across the nation.
My favourite city bird remains the superb fairy-wren, which in my opinion would make a worthwhile candidate for a stamp.
Ironically, the annual counts have revealed that blue wrens – as they are called in Tasmania – to be in decline in our cities, although Hobart remains a stronghold.
* In another birding initiative taking place this month, the swift parrot was named as the winner of the Bird of the Year contest. More on that next week.