By Megan Backhouse

Copyright theage

People are asked to record what they see in a specific area over a period of 20 minutes. You don’t need to be a bird expert, and BirdLife Australia provides a field guide app for those worried about their bird identification skills.

You can do the count in your garden, on a beach or in a city street. Sean Dooley, a spokesman for BirdLife Australia, says he once did it at a city station while waiting for a train. Other people have recorded what they see through their office window, in the Western Desert and on the sub-Antarctic Macquarie Island.

While 9000 people took part in the inaugural 2014 count, last year’s event attracted more than 57,000 participants. All of the data collected adds to the scientific knowledge about the health of bird populations and habitat around Australia, and Dooley says the findings have been used to help hundreds of councils and land managers support a wider diversity of bird life.

The count has also spurred more home gardeners into action because, as many participants will attest, once you begin counting birds your mind turns to all the other birds you might lure. You start thinking fantails, pardalotes, silvereyes and Eastern spinebills. All of a sudden, welcoming yellow-faced honeyeaters and red-browed finches is a driving focus.