How to take part

D_2006_11799_5552 - BGBW 2008 USE ONLY Female chaffinch standing on fench

Taking part in the Big Garden Birdwatch is simple and fun.

All you need to do is watch your garden or local park for an hour on either Saturday 24 or Sunday 25 January 2009.

Simply record the highest number of each species seen in your garden (not flying over) at any one time.

So I need to count all the birds I see, right? Wrong. Some birds will return to your garden many times in the hour, so seeing the same blue tit come back 10 times does not make 10 blue tits.

Get ready for your birdwatch

Wherever you decide to do your birdwatch, it's best done in a place where you can see the birds well and where you can sit quietly so they are not disturbed.

Check out our top 10 tips for having a successful Big Garden Birdwatch. We've also got information to help you get ready for a brilliant and fun birdwatch.

Come to a Birdwatch event

One of the ways we hope you'll be getting ready for Big Garden Birdwatch is to attend one of our events.

Come along to meet our staff and volunteers, pick up tips about what you can do to help the birds in your garden and even buy some bird food!

Use our counting sheet

Download the counting sheet to help you keep track of how many birds you've seen. The sheet has pictures of the commonest birds seen in gardens, as well as space to cross off how many of each species you have seen together.

You don't need to send this sheet back to us - it is just to help you record your counts.

Last modified: 05 January 2006