Dunedin and Otago residents are again being asked to help document bird numbers, with an invitation to take part in the sixth annual Garden Bird Survey, which starts today.
The national survey involves householders spending one hour some time between today and July 8 recording the highest number of each bird species participants observe in their garden at any one time during the hour.
The survey is being organised by Landcare Research and is backed by the Ornithological Society and The Royal Forest and Bird Protection Society.
Dunedin has strong claims to be considered New Zealand's native bird capital, after results from last year's national survey again highlighted the many sightings of native birds in the city, survey organiser Eric Spurr, of Rangiora, said.
And Dunedin and Otago people can also legitimately make two other claims to distinction.
They have achieved the highest per capita regional survey participation rate in the country, with publication of the survey form in the Otago Daily Times clearly contributing to the rate of response.
"Otago is 5% of the [national] population, but contributes 12% of the survey returns," he said.
And the feeding of birds in people's gardens seems to be more popular in Dunedin than in the other main metropolitan centres.
Mr Spurr is keen to alert Otago participants to a common confusion between two bird species - the dunnock (sometimes called a hedge sparrow), and the female house sparrow.
Some Dunedin residents have previously reported seeing flocks of dunnocks in their gardens - an unlikely possibility because dunnocks are usually found in ones and twos, and usually only feed close to cover, unlike sparrows which often feed in flocks in the middle of lawns.
Both birds are small and brown but the dunnock has a much finer bill.
Scientists know a lot about New Zealand's endangered birds, but bird-lovers throughout Otago can help by providing more information about trends affecting more common bird species.
Observations by Otago people have already proved useful, and fewer silvereye sightings in 2008 and 2009 might have indicated an increased impact from avian pox.
The house sparrow and the native silvereye (also known as waxeye) were almost equally often reported in Dunedin and Otago gardens last year - an average 9.3 sightings for sparrows and 9.2 for silvereyes.
Nationally, an average sighting of 13 sparrows was reported during the survey, with silvereye second (5.5), and starling (2.5), blackbird (2.4) and myna (1.7) completing the top five.
In Otago, the starling (2.6 average sightings) and blackbird (2.1) also took third and fourth places, with the bellbird (1.6) fifth.
