EARTH FIRST | An attraction we can count on: Aussie Bird Count under way

They can be bright Eastern Rosellas or noisy Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, elegant tiny birds like Superb Fairy Wrens or wonderful songsters like the Rufous Whistlers.

Some are here all year and others, like the bright green Superb Parrot, Latham's Snipe or cheeky Grey Fantail, come in early spring and leave during summer or autumn.

This week was National Bird Week, the aim of which was to connect the Australian public with the natural world through drawing attention to our country's amazing birdlife, and to appreciate the fact that a lot of it is in our own backyards.

As part of National Bird Week celebrations, Birdlife Australia has again organised the Aussie Bird Count for 2018. As part of Birdlife's Birds in Backyards program, the Bird Count encourages those who are taking part to spend 20 minutes of their day during Bird Week to sit quietly in their favourite green space – be it their backyard, local park, schoolyard or wetland – and record the variety and number of birds observed in that time.

They are then asked to submit their sightings to the Aussie Bird Count website. By Thursday, the Aussie Bird Count had recorded over one million sightings.

Apart from being an enjoyable way for us to connect with our avian friends, the information provided by the Aussie Bird Count provides valuable data for the ongoing research done by Birdlife into bird population trends throughout Australia.

One trend of concern which has been observed in past bird counts is the decline of small bird species such as honey-eaters, finches and small insect-eating birds in our urban spaces.

We can do something about this by including native trees, shrubs, and grasses in our public and private spaces that provide food and shelter for these charming and diverse little birds.

By doing so we will be improving their habitat and adding colour to our lives through providing an environment which allows us to connect with our native birds.