One in six Australian birds are facing extinction, and conservationists are calling on Australians to help by counting them this weekend ahead of the annual Aussie Bird Count deadline on 25 October.
Each year during National Bird Week, Australian conservation charity BirdLife asks people to spend 20 minutes outside, observing, counting, and identifying the birds they see.
Participants log their results online or on a free app, where they can submit findings from as many 20-minute sessions as they please.
Since 19 October, more than 3 million birds have been counted, and the charity is now calling for last-minute submissions before the survey winds up on Sunday.
The initiative seeks to answer questions about Australia's bird populations, including "Which birds are Australians most likely to see?" and "Which species are part of everyday life in our suburbs, parks and gardens?"
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The Aussie Bird Count takes place in spring, during which birds are "more lively and visible", BirdLife says on its website, as thousands of migrant birds return to Australian shores.
"They begin nesting, breeding and flocking and generally appear more playful."
"For these reasons it is also National Bird Week, a tradition that started back in the early 1900s when 28 October was first designated by our predecessor, the Royal Australasian Ornithologists Union, as the first 'Bird Day'."
While the Aussie Bird Count is designed to be fun and accessible, BirdLife says, it also contributes valuable large-scale citizen-science data.
"Because tens of thousands of people take part across Australia at the same time each year, the Count provides a unique annual snapshot of the birds people are seeing in backyards, parks, schools and local neighbourhoods."
To participate, Australians are asked to sit in one spot outside and count the number of birds they see and which species they are.
The app includes a field guide to assist with identification, and people who can establish bird species by their calls without a clear sighting are encouraged to include those in their reports.
The 20-minute period is the set standard for BirdLife's survey, allowing the data to be more scientifically robust, which BirdLife says allows the data to be used in conservation efforts.
"If you wanted to count for one hour, you will need to submit three consecutive 20-minute counts."
More than 66,000 Australians participated in the 2025 Aussie Bird Count, which recorded 5,014,889 birds across more than 150,000 reports.
More than 600 bird species were recorded, and the most commonly spotted was the magpie, which featured in one in every two reports.
The second-most commonly sighted bird was the rainbow lorikeet, which was also the most numerous bird counted, with regular sightings of colourful flocks adding more than 535,000 individual birds to the count.
"Because rainbow lorikeets are more social, hanging out in flocks, when we see them, we see more of them," BirdLife Australia’s national public affairs advisor Sean Dooley said in a statement.
The native noisy miner, the sulphur-crested cockatoo, and the magpie-lark closed off Australia's most commonly sighted birds.
A landmark study in 2020 found that nearly one in six Australian bird species faced extinction.
Following the study, an action plan from BirdLife Australia and Charles Darwin University highlighted the increasing role of climate change as a key threat to bird populations, with unprecedented frequency and intensity of drought, fires and heat endangering species.
And this is the first year that the Aussie Bird Count occurs amid the threat to native wildlife posed by H5 bird flu, which arrived on mainland Australia in June.
The highly contagious strain of avian influenza can cause serious illness or sudden death.
The federal government's agriculture department has warned Australians to look out for sick birds that can’t stand, walk, or fly properly, have a droopy or puffed-up appearance, display breathing problems like panting or sneezing or have an unusual head or neck posture.
BirdLife said the count was occurring at a "challenging time" for Australia’s birds.
"Our birds need a bird-loving community now more than ever. We need them too, because watching birds brings us joy and gives us hope, which we all need right now."
It said that despite the threat the virus poses to birds, watching and enjoying them remains as safe as ever.
"We can all play our part by being mindful of the signs of H5 bird flu, especially in waterbirds, seabirds and birds of prey, and making sure we avoid any contact, record the location and details, and report what you’ve seen to the Emergency Animal Disease Hotline on 1800 675 888."
