Every year the RSPB (That stands for the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds) try to find out how many different types of birds visit our gardens, and how many there are of each. Of course, this is very hard to do, because birds are very hard to count! They just WILL NOT line up, keep still, and wait nicely in a row to be counted.
So, what the RSPB ask people to do is spend just one hour, counting the birds that they can see in their own garden. Everyone who takes part in this survey (the special word for counting things!) sends up their results to RSPB, who then try to work out how the birds are doing in different parts of the country. Some years there might have been more of one type of bird survive in one part of the country than others, and Birdwatch can help the RSPB to find out where they are doing well. If we know where birds are doing well, then we can often find out WHY, and also we can find out why they are doing badly in other places. Then we can try and help them, by making the bad places better for them. We can also make sure that the numbers of one type of bird do not get too low, by asking people to help protect them.
You can find out everything you need to know about Birdwatch, and send in your survey results online at: http://www.rspb.org.uk/birdwatch/ But remember, Birdwatch is this weekend, 26th/27th January, so do it quickly! The more people who spend just one hour counting the birds in their garden, the more the RSPB will be able to help British birds! This will be the biggest birdwatch of the year!
