News & Tips

With warmer weather and more sunlight now is the time to plan and plant in the backyard. There’s plenty of good company in the garden too. Your feathered friends will be busy nest building, breeding and feeding their young chicks.

We love seeing a kererū in a kōwhai or tūī in a tawa gobbling fruit and nectar. Even better if we can supplement the birds’ natural food sources by hanging a feeder to get them through times of food scarcity. But what if trees aren’t an option at your place?

While some experts adhere to a school of thought that discourages feeding birds, seeing it as a disruption of nature’s course, others disagree, taking the view that our natives need a helping hand. So... who’s right?

The results are in for the 2021 New Zealand Garden Bird Survey. At 5894 results nationwide, 2021 saw a near-identical number of submitted surveys as 2020. 

It’s time to release your inner David Attenborough for this essential citizen science project! The NZGBS asks New Zealanders annually to observe and record information about the birds visiting their little patch of the country.

As we near the end of the NZ Garden Bird Survey in 2021 the results from last year have just been released.

Over the last six months the launch of an exciting new conservation initiative has seen researchers at the University of Otago walking into the backyards of 78 homes to check out and mark down what’s growing where.

In the heat of summer your local birdlife needs a reliable chill-out spot, a space they can drink and wash in. It’s good for them and it’s great for nature lovers too.