Bird counting in the Landsborough Valley

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In a remote valley on the West Coast of the South Island,
bird song has doubled over the past 20 years…
Since 1998, an expert team of 'bird counters' has flown in every spring. [Calendar counts up from 1998 to 2018].
to measure the effects of long-term predator control.
They set out to do 175 'five-minute bird counts' over several days.
It's demanding work.
Each observer must identify the calls of every individual bird in the forest around them.
That's over 14 hours of intense listening.
The results are impressive.
Most species have increased year-on-year.
Mohua / yellowhead: Graph showing increase
Tui: Graph showing increase
Korimako / bellbird: Graph showing increase
Pipipi / brown creeper: Graph showing increase
Rifleman / titititpounamu: Graph showing increase
Kakariki / parakeet: Graph showing increase
Riroriro / grey warbler: Graph showing increase
Two species have declined.
Tauhou / silver eye: Graph showing decrease
Koekoea / long-tailed cuckoo: Graph showing decrease
And four species have stayed stable.
Ngirungiru / tomtit: Graph showing stable numbers
Kereru / NZ pigeon: Graph showing stable numbers
Kaka: Graph showing stable numbers
Fantail / piwakawaka: Graph showing stable numbers
Overall native bird numbers have doubled.
Two decades of predator control and monitoring is helping restore a whole community of native birds.
Logo: Department of Conservation Te Papa Atawhai doc.govt.nz/predator-free-2050 Logo: New Zealand Government
Thanks to the following photographers: Liz Carlson, Neil Sloan, Colin O'Donnell, Jack Mace, Sabine Bernert, Nir Ketraru, Brendan Bombaci, Shellie Evans, Leon Berard, Janice McKenna, James Reardon.

Bird counting in the Landsborough Valley

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