Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa – The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey 2025
28 June 2025 - 06 July 2025
Region(s): Nationwide
Type(s): national Events, citizen Science
Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa / The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey is taking place this year from 28 June to 6 July.
Birds are important indicators of the health of New Zealand’s environment and to help discover and learn more about New Zealand garden birds, participate in this annual citizen science project.
Recording bird species
A year 4 student records the different species of birds visiting her garden at home for the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. Other online citizen science projects offer variations on bird data collection depending on desired learning outcomes.
This is organised by Manaaki Whenua – Landcare Research. It takes place over nine days and people count the birds they see in their backyards, local parks or schools.
How to get involved
Visit the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey website to get started
Select your location, i.e. garden, park, marae or school
Choose one day from 28 June to 6 July
Look and listen for birds for ONE hour on ONE day
Record the HIGHEST number of a bird species observed at one time
Submit the results online at the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey website.
Garden Bird Survey
This New Zealand citizen science project collects observational data about bird sightings and allows you to compare your region with others over time.
The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey website has lots of helpful information for bird identification, classroom resources, (including te reo Māori), quizzes, how to create a bird friendly garden, and more.
Related content
The article Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa – resources for kura curates resources created for kura to inspire, enlighten and extend learning for tamariki. The resources are in English and te reo Māori.
The PLD planning article New Zealand Garden Bird Survey – a context for learning offers ideas for getting started and making the most of this annual survey.
The Hub has numerous resources on native birds. Conserving native birds – introduction is a good place to start or see the range of content under our Birds topic.
Citizen science
The New Zealand Garden Bird Survey has been running for many years now – providing extensive data to look back through and consider.
Explore some related New Zealand citizen science projects:
iNaturalist NZ lets you record what you see in nature.
Participate in eBird to log bird sighting data year round and compare data from around the world.
If you live in the mountainous parts of the South Island or are planning a school trip there you could contribute to the Kea Database.
For more citizen science content on the Hub, see the range of resources under the citizen science concept.
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