The Five Minute Bird Count (5MBC) is a method of systematically and reliably assessing relative changes in bird density in a chosen area. The method is based on Dawson & Bull (1975) and has been used in Wellington’s Kaori Reservoir Valley since 1995. A person stays in a chosen spot for 5 minutes, counting the birds that are observed or heard. The numbers are recorded and combined. Zealandia was the world's first mainland fenced sanctuary. It is within the Kaori Reservoir Valley, the Reservoir having been decommissioned in the early 90’s. The Ornithological Society of New Zealand Inc (Birds NZ) initially undertook research around 5MBC sites within and outside the fence. The initial ten years of this survey was reported by Dr Colin Miskelly (2018). The Zealandia conservation team continues this survey at regular intervals.
This paper documents the process used by the capstone project students to map the sites and looking at spatial distribution of birds, using over twenty years of data regularly collected from 40 sites across what is now the Zealandia Valley (https://visitzealandia.com/). The project started with the consolidation and cleansing of data from two sources (Birds NZ and Zealandia). The data was then subjected to analytical investigation using data science processes and statistical programming tools (mainly the R analysis environment) to detect trends and patterns in the changing populations of key bird species. The primary output from the project was a digital dashboard that uses a variety of methods to show changes in distribution of birds. There was particular interest in changes in native bird populations.
Work has since been undertaken to see if a correlation can be seen between the changes in bird density and changes in vegetation as the protected Zealandia native bush has regenerated in the twenty-two years during which the fence has kept all invasive mammals out of the area.
The paper suggests a range of ways this data could be used by similar data science projects to further enhance the contribution of Zealandia and Wellington conservation volunteers the ambitious target to make New Zealand predator free by the year 2050 (www.pf2050.co.nz).
Steve Cosgrove has been working with PCs and related technologies since 1982. Initially in presales support, when the IBM PC was first released in New Zealand.
He later worked within the PC support team of a Government department, before moving to lecturing at the Polytechnic sector in 1993. During the 1990s, Polytechnics moved from offering lower level certificates and industry qualifications to include degree courses. Steve followed this trend, completing a Masters degree in 2008. He now teaches networking and infrastructure courses, predominantly teaching, and supervising student projects, at third year undergraduate (level 7) and postgraduate levels.
Since 2001, Steve has been teaching at Whitireia New Zealand where he started the Whitireia Cisco Networking Academy (CNAP). He research interests cover a range of network fieds, particularly the Internet of Things.