The rainbow lorikeet has snatched the lead from the Australian magpie as the nation enters the last day of the Aussie Backyard Bird Count.
By 10am on Sunday, Australian bird watchers had helped tally more than 1,168,164 birds across the country, including 641 species, during the week-long count.
Shoahalven residents had counted more than 5000 birds using the free Aussie Bird Count app.
BirdLife Australia are chasing another 330,000 backyard bird sightings to reach its goal of 1.5 million.
In the first 48 hours of counting, the Australian magpie had swooped in and taken the lead.
By day five, the magpie had slipped back to position three, and the rainbow lorikeet was, for the third year running, in position one.
‘’It will be interesting to see how the large numbers of sightings of the magpie in urban areas through the Aussie Bird Count compares to what is going on elsewhere in the country,” BirdLife Australia’s Sean Dooley said.
“The combination of data from scientific surveys such as the State of Australian Birds and the Bird Atlas as well as citizen science projects such as the Aussie Bird Count give us a clearer picture of what’s happening across the country, including in our urban areas like backyards.’’
Download the free app or join the count at aussiebirdcount.org.au for live statistics.
