Grab your binoculars and get ready to count some feathered friends! The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch, the largest survey of garden wildlife in the world, takes flight across the UK this weekend. Nature enthusiasts are flocking to spend an hour tallying the birds that visit their gardens, parks and green spaces. With over 600,000 people participating last year and more than 9 million birds counted, this citizen science project provides crucial insights into how our beloved birds are faring.
But this year’s Birdwatch comes amid growing concerns over the dual threats of climate change and infectious diseases to avian populations. Experts are eager to see whether the recent bitter cold snap has taken a toll, especially on smaller species like long-tailed tits and wrens that struggle to survive prolonged freezing temperatures. The survey may also reveal an influx of winter migrants like fieldfares and redwings fleeing the harsh Scandinavian weather in search of food.
Connecting with nature on our doorsteps
For RSPB chief executive Beccy Speight, the Birdwatch is about much more than just data collection. “At its heart, Big Garden Birdwatch is an opportunity for people to spend an hour watching, enjoying, and connecting with the wildlife on their doorstep,” she says. Watching the entertaining antics of chirpy house sparrows and acrobatic blue tits can brighten even the dreariest day and provide a much-needed dose of nature, Speight notes.
But the lighthearted activity also carries an urgent message. With the climate and nature crises threatening even our most familiar birds, Speight stresses that every count matters. Since it began in 1979, the Birdwatch has chronicled worrying declines in species like song thrushes, starlings and house sparrows. The average number of house sparrows spotted per garden has plummeted by 60%, contributing to an overall loss of 38 million birds from UK skies in the last 50 years.
Should we be feeding the birds?
As the Birdwatch approaches, many participants may be tempted to top up their feeders to attract more feathered visitors. But growing scientific evidence suggests that bird feeding may actually contribute to the spread of deadly diseases like trichomonosis, which has devastated greenfinch and chaffinch populations since emerging in 2005. An estimated 6 million of these birds have succumbed to the parasite, spread through contaminated food and water.
Other studies point to bird feeding altering nutrient cycles and potentially degrading natural habitats if done to excess. However, supplying food during lean times can be a lifeline, boosting winter survival rates and supporting spring chicks. For many people, including 9 in 10 survey respondents, watching and hearing garden birds provides an invaluable wellbeing boost.
So how can we keep helping birds without harming them? The RSPB advises using hanging feeders rather than flat trays to minimize disease transmission risk and regularly disinfecting feeders and baths. Choosing sunflower hearts over seeds, which create bacteria-harboring waste, and monitoring for signs of illness can also help. Ultimately, enriching your outdoor space with bird-friendly native plants may be the most natural solution.
Strengthening our connection with nature
Whether or not you put out feeders, the Big Garden Birdwatch offers an opportunity to slow down and appreciate the natural world that surrounds us. In a hectic modern age, carving out even an hour to sit and observe the lives of other species can work wonders for the soul. As the chill of winter gradually yields to the whisperings of spring, what better time to renew our link with the land?
So this weekend, stake out a cozy spot by a window, in the garden, or at your local park. Let your senses attune to the subdued tones and subtle movements of the season. Marvel at the delicate beauty of a long-tailed tit darting between frosted branches. Chuckle at the bickering of starlings squabbling over suet. Jot down your sightings, but also the emotions they evoke, the thoughts they inspire. Share your experience with loved ones or the wider Birdwatch community.
In connecting with nature, we strengthen not only our understanding of the ecological web that holds us all, but our place within it. We remember that regardless of the form life takes—finch or filmstar, warbler or writer—we are all made of the same stardust, all dependent on the same shining planet. And though much has been lost, much still remains to cherish and protect.
So let the Big Garden Birdwatch be your gateway to a greater sense of groundedness, gratitude and resolve. Let it reawaken your inner naturalist, the child who once knew the wild as kin. Let it be a reminder that whether magnificent or modest, every feather, every fluttering heartbeat, every avian aria matters. And like the birds themselves, let that recognition take flight, soaring from garden to garden, soul to soul, until it alights in the halls of power and sets better angels all aflutter.
