Feathered friends counted

The Aussie Bird Count results from 2022 have finally been released – and a familiar bird has once again topped the leaderboard.

The Aussie Bird Count is one of Australia’s largest citizen science events and takes place during National Bird Week in October.

The results of 2022’s Bird Count show that for the ninth year running, Aussies counted more rainbow lorikeets than any other species, with more than 400,000 spotted – more than the total number of all bird species counted in South Australia.

Rounding out the top three were the noisy miner at number two, and the Australian magpie at number three. Also featuring in the top 10 were Aussie icons the sulphur-crested cockatoo (fourth), the galah (fifth), and the Australian white ibis (tenth).

There were 77,419 people who participated, with 124,430 checklists submitted and 620 species spotted. Victorians counted 944,536 birds, second only to New South Wales with 1,222,597.

In total, 3,913,281 birds were spotted in the 2022 Aussie Bird Count, down from 4,936,509 in 2021, and 4,654,239 in 2020. Heavy downpours during October are believed to be responsible for a drop in both counters in the eastern states, and in turn, the number of birds counted.

Birdlife Australia’s National Public Affairs Manager, Sean Dooley, said the almost 4 million birds counted was “an incredible testament to the diversity of birdlife we have in our own backyard here in Australia”.

“While some of these surveys came from very remote areas — even on Norfolk Island and Christmas Island — the majority were conducted in the places where most people live: our cities, towns and farms,” Mr Dooley said.

“We thought that the wet weather may have had an impact, but the only major mover in the top 20 was the New Holland Honeyeater, which leapt four spots, up to 11th place in 2022. [The mudlark] was the fourth most frequently recorded bird across regional Australia, where it was recorded in more than one in four surveys — and one in three surveys in Queensland.”

2022 also saw the high numbers of the eastern koel, a large migratory cuckoo, in every state it occurs.

“This was particularly noticeable in Victoria and the ACT, where the koel has been expanding its range in recent years. For example, it jumped more than a hundred places in Victoria in the past five years and 60 places in Canberra — quite remarkable for a species that was a rarity there just 20 years ago,” Mr Dooley said.

For a detailed look at the 2022 Aussie Bird Count results, visit aussiebirdcount.org.au/2022-results.

The 2023 Aussie Bird Count will take place from October 16 to 22.