Are birds so rare now that people take videos of them to post on social media whenever they see one?

I have dozens of birds around my house at all times. Wake to them making a racket in the morning. Australian magpies walking on my cut lawn eating worms, daring each other to see how close they can get to my dog before she chases them, giving their "Quardle oodle ardle wardle doodle" speeches. Little birds in large numbers skittering around on the parking area. Tuis making warning sounds from the gum trees as I walk past. Kereru resting in the tagasaste. Harriers and hawks circling, looking for the next unaware rabbit. Spurwing lapwings chasing away the hawks or standing in a paddock making annoying kak-kak-kak sounds far too often. Moreporks calling out for more pork late in the night. Eastern rosellas dashing about, always in mating pairs. Mallards walking around in the wet areas, with a long trail of ducklings following behind. Fantails dashing about catching insects, following me through the grass to eat the bugs that try to fly away. Swallows stopping for a visit in large flocks diving and swooping with pointed wing.

I never thought to capture them on video.

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Discussion

🤷‍♂️ post whatever you like. Would love to see some of the nature around you.

But what I really want to know are... are birds rare elsewhere? I've heard such a thing on Hacker News that nobody sees birds anymore, and I've been kind of skeptical. Is it really true?

I guess it depends where you live. If you’re close to nature you’ll see more. I lived in CA and WA and I rarely saw birds around cities. And it did feel like birds are on the decline. But where I live now I see birds more frequently. I grew up hearing bird songs outside my window at sunrise but it feels like that’s not common anymore. No idea on actual number of birds 🐦

Bird watchers are wonderful people. Check out inaturalist.org

The app is great too

Saw the term 'research grade' and wondered what it was.

https://forum.inaturalist.org/t/does-research-grade-actually-mean-anything/37293