Big Garden Birdwatch 2025

Get ready to look for birds this weekend! This year’s Big Garden Birdwatch runs from 24th to 26th January 2025: Big Garden Birdwatch is fun, free and for everyone.

Big Garden Birdwatch with Birda

For the third year running, Birda is supporting the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch by providing a fun and easy way for you to log your BGBW bird sightings using the Birda app.

For the Big Garden Birdwatch 2025 – running from the 24th to 26th Jan – we have created a simple and intuitive birding session flow that is unique to the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch. This will allow you to log all of your sightings in a timed session and conform to the Big Garden Birdwatch recording rules.

Once you have finished your Big Garden Birdwatch session on Birda, you will be prompted to submit your sightings via the RSPB’s website. You must submit what you see via the RSPB’s website if you want them to be included in the Big Garden Birdwatch results.

How to Take Part in Big Garden Birdwatch

1. Download the free Birda app

2. Click on the Big Garden Birdwatch header on Birda

You will only see this when you open the Birda app from the 24th to the 26th of Jan.

3. Review the guidelines on how to log what you see

4. Log your sightings

5. Save your session

5. Submit your BGBW session to the RSPB

The Big Garden Birdwatch App

The Birda app is a birdwatching app and bird ID tool that makes participating in the Garden Birdwatch simple and fun. Birda has a dedicated Big Garden Birdwatch logging session so participants can log and identify their birds on their smartphones for free.

Birda’s Big Garden Birdwatch session tool provides a timer as well as a summary of the species and number of birds that you’ve seen, so you can quickly submit your results to the RSPB at the end of your session. The app allows users to log bird sightings, identify species, and keep track of observations, all in one place. By using Birda during the Big Garden Birdwatch, participants can contribute valuable data to support efforts to monitor bird populations and better understand the health of local wildlife.

Learn more about why people use Birda to help identify birds during their RSPB birdwatch.

How to do the Big Garden Birdwatch

To take part, all you need to do is pick an hour between the 24th and 26th of January to sit quietly (in your garden, balcony or local park) and count the number of birds that land in your patch.

Just keep in mind to only count how many of each species you see at any one time — not the total number that come and go — as that avoids counting the same bird twice. Read this to learn more about how to count birds during the Big Garden Birdwatch.

While some people like to jot what they see in a notebook, the Birda app, has an easy to use RSPB Birdwatch logging session, that guides you through the rules, has an in-built stopwatch and that allows you to quickly identify and keep track of the birds that you see right on your phone.

Once your hour is up, you take the summary of the birds you’ve seen (Birda provides you with an automatic summary of your RSPB birdwatch sightings) and submit your results to the RSPB.

You don’t need any prior birdwatching experience to take part, and even a small list of sightings or even no sightings (if you did not see any birds) provide the RSPB with valuable insights.

Why it's important to get involved with the BGBW

In the last fifty years, Great Britain has lost around 38 million birds. In 2021, 70 bird species were added to the RSPB’s Red List for endangered species which means that 1 in 4 species in the UK is seriously threatened. There are numerous reasons for these declines; namely habitat loss and predation from pets but the big garden birdwatch can help inform researchers where to spend resources to help declining species. It’s not all doom and gloom though because, thanks to the information provided from the Big Garden Birdwatch, many species have been shown to be improving and recovering. Find out how and when the Big Garden Birdwatch started.

So in summary...

The Big Garden Birdwatch is one of the largest citizen science projects on the planet and it’s a great way to get the whole family excited about birding whilst exploring our green spaces. Whether you’re at home, school or the park, the Big Garden Birdwatch oﬀers a great excuse to get involved with nature in January (find out why the BDGW is held in January). Birda makes it even easier to track and record your findings and by using the app you can enter yourself into exciting challenges and maybe even win some prizes! So what are you waiting for! Get out there and get birding!

FAQs

What is the Big Garden Birdwatch counting sheet?

The Big Garden Birdwatch counting sheet, provided by the RSPB, features images of birds you might spot and offers space to record your sightings. While helpful, you can view images of all your local bird species, listen to bird calls and learn fun facts about the birds near you directly in the Birda app. You can also then log them in a dedicated RSPB Garden Birdwatch session that records and summarises your results so you can easily submit them.

How do I register/sign up for Big Garden Birdwatch?

To register for the RSPB birdwatch, you need to sign up on the RSPB website either before or after you are ready to submit your results. Here’s a simple step-by-step guide:

Visit the RSPB website here – https://www.rspb.org.uk/whats-happening/big-garden-birdwatch/register
Register your details: You’ll be asked to provide some basic information like your name, email address, and location.
Mark the date on your phone calendar: The Birdwatch takes place from January 25th to 27th, 2025, so plan a one-hour time slot during those dates to do your count

How do I submit results for the Big Garden Birdwatch?

To submit your big garden Birdwatch results all you need to do is take your results from your Birda session and submit the number of bird species to the RSPB here.

Is the Big Garden Birdwatch free?

Yes, the Big Garden birdwatch is completely free and anyone in the UK can participate. It’s open to people of all ages and levels of experience, from complete beginners to seasoned birdwatchers. You don’t need any special equipment..