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Aussie Backyard Bird Count

Every year, Bega Valley Shire residents head outside to participate in the Birdlife Australia's Aussie Bird Count, the nation's largest citizen science event. Download the 2022 and 2021 Bega Valley Bird Count Results.

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Bega Valley Shire Council supports Birdlife Australia’s annual Aussie Bird Count, the nation’s largest citizen science event.

Why are citizen science project like this important?

With concern for the state of Australia’s birds growing every day, citizen science projects like the Aussie Bird Count help provide an insight into how key species are faring and give regular people the passion and skills they need to share crucial survey data all year round. This movement is empowering citizens to make a meaningful contribution to the future of conservation, without having to venture beyond a local park or their very own garden fences.

In 2022, Bega Valley residents observed a total of 175 bird species within the Bega Valley Shire boundaries with a total of 24,901 individual birds during Bird Week. This was a slight decrease from the 2021 results where 191 bird species were recorded.

Unlike in most of the urban councils near and north of Sydney, the most abundant bird species recorded within the Bega Valley Shire boundaries are native to New South Wales.

 The top five bird species in the Bega Valley in 2022 were:

Bird Species Count Report Rate of all surveys submitted %
Rainbow Lorikeet  2396 43.98
Welcome Swallow 1917 38.22
Red Wattlebird 1650 44.24
Galah 1196 31.45
Australian Magpie 1134 51.63

 

The top five threatened bird species recorded in 2022 were:

Bird Species Status Count RR % ( Reporting Rate)
Dusky Woodswallow Vulnerable 140 4.89
Australian Pied Oystercatcher Endangered 78 3.88
White-bellied Sea-Eagle Vulnerable 51 5.39
Little Tern Endangered 24 0.50
Glossy Black-Cockatoo Vulnerable 22 1.38

 

Most records of introduced species were clustered around urban and agricultural centres of the council, with very few in patches of intact forest or heath habitat. Survey bias is partly responsible for this pattern; most of the people participating in the Aussie Bird Count live and count in urban spaces, and large tracts of bushland in the Bega Valley Shire are inaccessible and/or under visited.

The top five invasive species recorded in the Bega Valley shire in 2022 were:

Bird Species Count RR
Common Blackbird   413 23.56
House Sparrow 400 10.28
Common Starling   169 3.76
Spotted Dove   67 3.88
Rock Dove 32 0.5

 

For more information, download the 2022 and 2021 Bega Valley Bird Count Results.

To get involved visit the Aussie Bird Count website.

 

 

 

© Bega Valley Shire Council 2025

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