Sustainability and Agriculture
Aitken College
National Bird Week – Aussie Bird Count
During week 3 of Term 4, Aitken College students participated in the Aussie bird count, which is part of National Bird Week. The Aussie bird count provides scientists with a snapshot of Australian birds at the same time each year and allows them to look at the trends in our bird communities from year to year. This is important because it’s these more common species that give the best indication of the health of the environment – think of the birds as a barometer for nature! The link below provides more information regarding the importance of the Aussie bird count.
The bird count conducted at Aitken College showed that nearly 70% of the birds were native species.
The Bird Count app is a fun educational platform that is great if you want to start learning about birds and bird watching. It is best if you are calm and quiet and do not move around a lot. Normally more birds come out during the spring and summer. The app can be used by many people, and it helps you to identify different bird species. In class we learnt about Australian birds, birds we see on site at school and the 4 things birds need to survive: water, food, shelter, and space. Some things that I have learnt from the app is that the black birds we call crows are little ravens. The app encourages you to get outdoors and to really notice how wonderful nature and wildlife is. The app encourages a 20-minute sitting of bird watching and counting and can be done for a whole week in October every year. I enjoyed doing it at school in the wildlife corridor and at home with my family.
By Chloe F, Year 4
In Year 4, we downloaded an app called Birdlife Australia and we did a bird watching activity over two days. On the first day we did a group discussion about birds that we find in Australia and birds that we can find around Aitken College – we researched 3 birds we would find here on our school grounds and 3 birds in Australia. Then on Thursday we went to the Dunhelen area, and we worked in groups. We picked a spot and sat down in one place for 20 minutes and we counted birds outside in the school areas. On the app we put in the amount and types of birds we could find. Some examples of birds our class found are magpies, little ravens, cockatoos and even an Australian white ibis. I found this activity very calm, and it was lovely and quiet just watching for birds. I hope we get to do it again next year! By Mikaela V, Year 4
Mr Dwayne Ganci
Sustainability Coordinator