Bird monitoring

There are many active bird watchers in the Murraylands and Riverland region and we encourage all birders to record and share their bird sightings. This information is incredibly valuable and is greatly appreciated by Birdlife Australia and the Murraylands and Riverland region.

By working together with citizen scientists, we can monitor our bird populations over large spatial and temporal scales. This data informs our decision making in relation to conserving bird species in the region, and allows us to monitor for early warning signs that our natural resources may need support.

You can help by becoming, or continuing to be, a bird watcher either on your own, or as part of a community bird watching program. Importantly, please submit your bird sightings online.

Submitting bird sightings

Birders can submit sightings and surveys to the national Birdlife Bird Conservation portal, Birdata. This is Australia’s leading resource for the collection and storage of bird distribution data. You can use this website to browse distribution data for bird species across Australia, as well as store and share your own bird sightings. Distribution data for ‘sensitive species’ are protected and not shared publicly.

The most valuable surveys for monitoring changes in bird populations are the 2-ha, 20 min search, area searches and embedded surveys. Incidental sightings, fixed route searches and bird lists cannot be used to estimate population trends of species but can indicate the presence or absence of a species.

The Department for Environment and Water has a data sharing agreement with Birdata to regularly receive a copy of records from SA. We can use this data to keep an eye out for changes within our local bird species.

We also have a regional community bird monitoring portal on BioCollect, part of the Atlas of Living Australia that members of the public can use to assist with project specific bird monitoring.

Community bird watching programs

Birds SA is the state’s foremost birding organisation, is affiliated with Birdlife Australia and regularly runs fieldtrips within the Murray Valley (and across the state). Visit their website for information on membership, field trips and contacts.

Want to know where to go to find birds? Visit the Birds SA where to go page to find a location near you, or where to find your bird of interest.

You can also watch videos of the excellent community bird workshops held in the Eyre Peninsula..

For additional information and assistance, please contact the Senior Project Officer Citizen Science on email.