Every year more than half a million people spend time during one weekend in January taking part in one of the largest wildlife surveys in the world. Organised by the RSPB, the Big Garden Birdwatch has been going for more than 30 years and aims to provide an accurate understanding of how birds are habiting different parts of the UK.
As of December 5th 2013, Britain is known to be home to 596 species of bird including both native species and migrant visitors that come to the country for only a small amount of time every year (sometimes just on a short stopover on their route to and from warmer climates in the south).
Very little is known however about the living habits of certain species that survive in Britain and along it's coasts, and population density can often be hard to determine. The Big Garden Birdwatch however, aids in the annual mapping of both the habitats and numbers of bird species up and down the country.
Last year was a great success with numerous reports being submitted from all over the country with the blackbird being the most commonly recorded bird. The top ten also included the starling, black-headed gull, woodpigeon, carrion crow, house sparrow, blue tit, magpie, common gull and the robin.
So if you have some time to spare or maybe during your lunch break from school or work then simply sit and watch your garden or your favorite spot in the park and see what you can see. Then, visit the RSPB website where you can submit your findings to them and do your bit for helping to maintain the populations and habitats of the birds that share our country with us.