The Big Garden Birdwatch 2017

More than half a million people will be watching and counting their garden birds for the 2017 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch this month.

It’s the UK's biggest nature survey and has been run by the RSPB for 38 years, helping to create a 'snapshot' of the birds visiting our gardens at this time of year and how well they are doing. 

The Big Garden Birdwatch is a great way for you and your family to get close to nature. Garden birds provide hours of entertainment and add colour and excitement to any garden, especially on cold, dull winter days. You’ll be amazed at the variety of birds that visit your outdoor space in search of food. The most likely visitors to your garden are starlings, house sparrows, blackbirds, blue and great tits, robins, greenfinches and collared doves. But Big Garden Birdwatch can bring a few surprises, for example winter visitors like waxwings.

Because the Big Garden Birdwatch has been running for over 30 years, it has given us really important information about the wildlife using our gardens in winter. We know there are 94% fewer song thrushes and 81% fewer starlings in our gardens then there were back in 1979, the year the birdwatch began.

How to take part in the Big Garden Birdwatch 2017

• Watch the birds in your garden or local park for ONE HOUR at some point over the three days from 28-30 January.
• Use our Guide to the Top 10 Garden Birds to help you identify birds
• Only count the birds that land in your garden or local park, not those flying over.
• Tell the RSPB the highest number of each bird species you see at any one time – not the total you see in the hour. Visit rspb.org.uk/birdwatch
• Even if you see nothing at all, please tell the RSPB, this is just as important!

You can also take part at school. The Big Schools’ Birdwatch runs from 3 January – 17 February. Ask your teacher to visit www.rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch

Guide to the top 10 garden birds

Click on the image below to enlarge and print out our guide to the top 10 garden birds.