Top 10 birds seen in 2014
The most striking result from 2014 was that counts of several species were the lowest on record (e.g. silvereye, blackbird, song thrush, chaffinch, greenfinch, and goldfinch). The low counts may have been a result of mild weather in early winter. One participant, from central Otago, noted, “No silvereyes due to no snow on the hills”. The mild early winter may have meant that birds did not come into gardens in search of food as much as they would have if weather conditions were harsher.
