The RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey. In 2024 almost 600,000 people took part, counting more than 9.7 million birds, and over 20,000 of those busy counters were right here in Kent. We really hope Kent residents will join us in force on our January 2025 count and help us build a snapshot of how garden birds are doing in the county and across the UK.
The Birdwatch, which started in 1979, has become a much-loved annual citizen science event that gives the RSPB a valuable snapshot of how our garden birds are doing in the UK. Over that time, more than 195 million birds have been counted and over 12.1 million hours spent watching and counting garden birds.
Taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch offers a huge boost for our wellbeing. After all, each of us are conservationists looking after the UK’s largest nature reserve – namely our gardens, balconies, window boxes and allotments, minus the fences and walls that divide them. Connecting to Kent’s nature is important for our mental and physical health, especially when Kent boasts so many stunning natural spaces, including RSPB Dungeness nature reserve.
Taking part:
Registration opened on December 11 so sign up for our free guide and bird chart. On either 24, 25, or 26 January pick just one hour and spend it watching and recording the birds that land (not those flying overhead) in either your garden, balcony, or local park. Send your results to the RSPB, telling us the highest number of each bird species you see at any one time during your chosen one-hour slot – not the total you see in the hour.
To receive your FREE Big Garden Birdwatch guide, which includes a bird identification chart, top tips for your Birdwatch, RSPB shop voucher, plus advice on how to help you attract wildlife to your garden, text BIRD to 82727, or you can choose a free digital guide (which helps the RSPB spend more on nature by reducing costs) by visiting: .rspb.org.uk/birdwatch
The parallel event RSPB Big Schools’ Birdwatch takes place during the first half of spring term, 7 January – 14 February 2025. For more than 20 years, the Birdwatch has helped to connect children and their teachers with nature in their school grounds. Registration for Big Schools’ Birdwatch will go live mid-September. Further information can be found at rspb.org.uk/schoolswatch
A song thrush singing whilst perched on a branch against a blue sky (Image: Chris Gomersall (rspb-images.com))Why is this survey so important?
The wealth of data that you have gathered for us over the past 47 years has helped us create an important snapshot of our garden birds. Birds don’t exist in isolation; they’re just one link in the web of nature. If your survey results show that a species is declining, this is an indicator that other areas of nature linked to this bird may be struggling too, such as changes to the places birds call home, food sources, and climate change. This information helps us better target conservation efforts and advice we give to the public on what we can all do to give more nature a home where we live.
Over its four decades, Big Garden Birdwatch has highlighted the winners and losers in the garden bird world. It was first to alert the RSPB to the decline in song thrush numbers, which are still down 81 per cent compared to the first Big Garden Birdwatch in 1979. This species was a firm fixture in the top ten in 1979.
House sparrow (Image: Ben Andrew, RSPB images)
Star bird species in Kent in 2024
1. House sparrow
2. Starling
3. Blue Tit
4. Woodpigeon
5. Blackbird
6. Magpie
7. Robin
8. Feral Pigeon
9. Great Tit
10. Collared Dove #
Who’s that bird?
Now you know which species to look out for on your Big Garden Birdwatch, you can use our online bird identification guide to help you work out which bird species have visited you. Just take a note, or even a quick photo -
• Where you saw the bird
• Size?
• Feather colour?
• Leg colour?
• Beak size and shape?
• What the bird was doing?
Great spotted woodpecker Dendrocopos major, adult male returning to nest hole to feed its chicks, (Image: Ben Andrew (rspb-images.com)) We hope you have fun on your Kent Big Garden Birdwatch. By counting your garden birds every year, you are helping us to better target our efforts to those species that most need it and to protect nature and its wildlife for the future.
