A count of birds in Cairns has revealed that nine of the most popular species were native.
An initiative of BirdLife Australia, the Backyard Bird Count has been running since 2014 and is now one of the largest citizen science projects in Australia.
For one week in October during National Bird Week, people across Australia count the birds they see in their local area during a 20 minute period and record them in the Bird Count App.
In Cairns, the count was conducted 19-25 October 2020, with 542 people taking part, over 42,700 birds counted, and 235 different bird species identified.
The most common birds in the Cairns region were the rainbow lorikeet, torresian imperial-pigeon and the sulphur crested cockatoo. The only introduced species in the top 10 was the common myna (seventh on the list).
The next Aussie Backyard Bird Count will be held from 18-24 October 2021.
Top 10 species and numbers counted:
- Rainbow lorikeet: 7715
- Torresian imperial-pigeon: 5263
- Sulphur-crested cockatoo: 2442
- Metallic starling: 1683
- Silver gull: 1636
- Olive-backed sunbird: 1526
- Common myna: 1514
- Magpie-lark: 1284
- Willie wagtail: 1236
- Peaceful dove: 1234
