Can you spare hour to count birds?

ARE YOU a dedicated twitcher, or do you simply enjoy watching birds visiting your garden? Have you got an hour to spare this weekend?

If you do, then you could take part in the France’s third annual bird count, organised by the Ligue pour la Protection des Oiseaux (LPO) and the National Museum of Natural History.

Organisers are asking people to observe and count all birds that visit their garden for one hour. Even if you don’t have a garden of your own, you can take part, organisers say. Simply visit a public space - or even just stare out of your window - and count the birds you see, noting the number of each species.

To help identify birds, the LPO has put together a downloadable bird-identification and counting sheet, available as a PDF here.

Once you have finished your hour’s bird count, pass your information on to www.oiseauxdesjardins.fr

If you do not recognise a bird, try to photograph it and send the image - or a description if you can’t catch it on camera - to oiseauxdesjardins@lpo.fr before February 28, 2015.

Over the past two bird counts, conservationists have noted a decline in bird numbers - particularly among greenfinch and chaffinch. In 2014, observers counted an average of 19 fewer birds than the previous year.

This year’s count should help experts determine whether the decline was just a blip caused by weather conditions in Europe, or is part of a more worrying trend.

A total 6,000 observers have spotted more than 230,000 birds in the two years of the count, which provides a snapshot of the bird population in France.

Also read: How to help birds in winter
Bird numbers plummeting
Photo © F Cahez / LPO