Bird enthusiasts valid this weekend for “Finland’s most popular nature event” | News
The annual backyard bird count provides valuable information about long-term population changes – but the top three species remain the same year after year, says Birdlife Finland.
Birdlife Finland is hosting the country’s largest ornithological event this weekend and asks the public to report the birds seen in their garden or elsewhere within an hour at the traditional two-day Pihabongau, recognized as “Finland’s most popular nature event”.
By Sunday evening, nearly 12,000 people had reported backyard bird sightings from about 8,000 locations. As in previous winters, the most commonly seen species were titmice, blue tit and magpie, followed by spotted woodpecker and bull tit.
However, there are regional differences. In Lapland, in the top three were titmice, willow tit and magpie, while in Helsinki blackbirds were the most common, besides titmice and blue tit.
The most commonly seen birds in Åland were bull tits and blackbirds.
In recent years, sightings have been reported from more than 15,000 locations, with the number of observers sometimes exceeding 25,000, according to Birdlife.
Whether it’s Sunday remains to be seen bright, relatively mild the weather encouraged more people to participate. Observations can be sent until February 3rd.
Scientifically valuable information
Pahabongaus (roughly translated as “yard inspection”) has been held on the last weekend of January since 2006.
About 400,000–800,000 individual birds are reported each year, typically about 100 species. The most abundant species vary more than the most common, depending on, for example, the weather and the availability of food each winter, the ornithological association says.
Birdlife states that although Pihabongaus does not provide accurate information about the most common or most abundant winter birds in Finland, the observations are scientifically valuable, as they give indications of changes in bird populations over the past 17 years.
Many of the trends visible in Pihabongau’s results are in line with, for example, the Natural Science Museum’s winter bird count.
According to Birdlife, Pihabongaus is a useful tool for monitoring the population changes of many rare species that are successful in garden feeding, such as the gray sparrow or sparrow.
The 2020 book of the natural science museum curator warns that climate change will affect birds in Finland “amazingly fast“in a way.
More information about the bird watching event and a form for submitting observations is available at Birdlife website (you switch to another service) in Finnish and Swedish.