Watch the Birds and Hear Their Songs
Beautiful illustration from the book, ‘Aroha Knows’ by Rebekah Lipp and Craig Phillips
It can be really relaxing to just sit quietly in a garden or forest, listen to the bird song and see what beautiful birds you can spot. The best times to do this are at dawn or dusk. What birds can you spot? What bird calls can you hear? Do you know what the birds are that you can hear/see? Do you know if they are introduced species or native species? Below you will find lots of activities that you can do to learn more about the birds in your green space.
Use this fantastic website to identify birds, listen to their calls, or to learn more about them. You can sit quietly in a green space and play the birds' calls on a phone to get them to come and visit you. Play the male grey warbler call and see if the tiny grey warblers fly down to see you. They are one of New Zealand's smallest birds and are often difficult to spot. Try playing other birds' calls and see what other birds you can get to come and see you. We've had lots of fun with this activity and had luck with piwakawaka calls, yellow hammer calls, quail calls and silver eye calls. (Please be aware that this activity is not advised in forests or with rare/endangered/territorial birds, as it could upset their nesting/breeding).
Try one of our bird scavenger hunts
Do a five minute Bird Count
Make a bird feeder and attract more birds to your garden.
HERE is an online bird identification guide and bird calls too.
Click HERE to use the Bird Atlas for biodiversity and take part in a citizen science activity.
For more activities and information about New Zealand birds check out our Online Nature Classroom, Birds of Aotearoa.
Read ‘Aroha Knows’ by Rebekah Lipp and Craig Phillips. What birds can you spot in the book? Do you know which ones are native and which ones are introduced species? Enjoy connecting with nature like Aroha, and go bird watching!
Here are some more recommend links/apps if you want to learn more about birds that you spot:
Free bird identification apps:
Merlin Bird ID (very comprehensive with lots of fun bells and whistles)
Bird Nerd (more basic and great way to ease into bird identifying)
iNaturalist.nz (for identifying any species including plants from videos or photos)
Also check out:
Free DOC bird identification online courseNew Zealand Birds Online (searchable encyclopaedia of New Zealand birds)
