Citizen Science in Waverley

What is Citizen Science? Quite simply its when the general public collects or analyses data about the Natural World. For birds this could be logging the bird species you see on your daily walk through apps like Birdata, eBird or iNaturalist.

Why is it important? When many people in lots of different places record what species they see in day-to-day life, collectively we can collect way more data over much longer time scales than scientists would ever have the capacity to. This data all together can help conservation scientists and ecologists better understand populations and how they are changing over time - it would be the first red flag that a species is struggling, or tell us where and when species are migrating. Every record counts!

For the citizen scientists out there in Waverley, Council has set up an iNaturalist project, where they’d love you to record birds and other wildlife you see around the area to help Council learn about the biodiversity in our beautiful backyard. I was lucky enough to see 2 Peregrin Falcons in North Bondi last week, and a Whimbrel (photo) in the diggers golf course. What birds or other wildlife have you spotted in the local area recently?