The results from a February bird count sponsored by Natuurpunt in Belgium are in. A record number of birds were counted by volunteers. More than eight thousand participants counted 352,000 back yard birds, on average 43 birds per garden. The sparrow was the most counted bird and the blackbird the most widespread.
43 birds per garden marked a 30 percent increase over the number of birds counted in 2004 and 2005, when 33 and 31 birds per garden were counted, respectively.
In part a long cold winter caused the high number of birds to seek food from garden feeders, which lead to the high count.
A striking trend is the increasing number of small birds found at Belgian garden feeders. For example, the number of finches found in back yards increased dramatically.
The next Belgian back yard bird count will take place on 3 and 4 February 2007.
Source: Recordaantal vogels geteld
