The RSPB is providing free educational resources so that schools, from early years to secondary, can take part in their 2026 Birdwatch
One hour on a January weekend: the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch is the biggest annual citizen science survey in the world – and you can be part of it
The Big Garden Birdwatch is the world’s largest garden wildlife survey – and this year it is inviting the country’s schools to take part, too.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of nature lovers take part, helping to build a picture of how garden birds are faring.
Figures accumulated since the first Birdwatch in 1979 have shown that the numbers of the most common of garden birds, the house sparrow, are down by 60%.
“In fact, we’ve lost 38million birds from UK skies in the last 60 years,” says the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds.
Those figures are only available because of the work done by the Big Garden Birdwatch.
To take part in the 2026 RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch, all you need to do is set aside one hour of your time over the course of the couple of days later this month, observing the birds in your locality. You don’t even need to have a garden to take part.
The Big Garden Birdwatch is happening this year on the weekend of January 23 to 25.
And this year, the Big Schools Birdwatch is also taking place, offering pupils in schools across the country, from early years to secondaries, the chance to take part in a vital piece of citizen science which is contributing to our knowledge of the changes going on in our environment.
Science practical: the RSPB provides a raft of resources to schools to fit in with their curriculum
Schools that sign up for this free project will receive all the information, links and downloadable resources they will need. This year, all resources are available digitally, providing thousands more teachers with a range of quality materials to use with their pupils.
The RSPB says: “All our resources support curriculum learning, including providing you with historical records of Big Schools’ Birdwatch, so you can compare what you see.
“We have activities you can do before, during and after your Birdwatch, including ones to help your pupils to consider how being in nature impacts their mental health and wellbeing.”
The Birdwatch count in school grounds runs from now until February 13. Schools need to submit their results February 23.
“Why not make your Big Schools’ Birdwatch count towards an RSPB Wild Challenge Award? This free scheme encourages pupils to discover more wildlife and help the nature in your school grounds.”
For more information of resources provided to schools and how to sign up, click here.
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