Priorities
Birds Australia has developed a set of conservation priorities to help guide our research and conservation efforts. These priorities are an evolving set, under constant review. The priorities provide a framework for assessing new project proposals and planning future research.
People doing projects
Birds Australia's conservation activities are given structure by our projects. Typically, a project involves many people, the vast majority of whom are volunteers. Volunteers survey key areas for birds, monitor breeding events, perform on-ground works and gather vital data. They are the backbone of our organisation and the lifeblood of our projects. There are thousands of us out there working for birds and their habitats, and we can always use more help! Visit the Volunteer page to see how you can get involved.
Projects are coordinated by Project Officers, many of whom are themselves volunteers, and the project portfolio as a whole is overseen by the Research Manager and Conservation Manager, who in turn report to the Research and Conservation Committee (RACC). RACC ensures that the projects we do are relevant, strategic, and deliver good conservation and knowledge outcomes.
 A Strategic Project Portfolio
Birds Australia runs a large number of projects, ranging from small survey-based efforts in local areas to nation-wide monitoring programs generating large amounts of data which can be use in an array of sophisticated analyses. As in all areas, we want to provide good value for money with our projects, and therefore tend to concentrate resources on projects which are strategic and effective in terms of conservation outcomes, national or at least regional in scale, and realistically manageable. Birds Australia's research strengths lie in mobilising large numbers of people for monitoring, and in modelling and mapping the information they provide.
 Monitoring
Many of our projects are based on monitoring, and feed into our central database, the Ongoing Atlas of Australian Birds. Our overarching aim in monitoring is to establish a fixed-site monitoring network using the Atlas. This will allow us to examine biodiversity and population trends, and long-term effects on populations of climate change and other environmental variables. Our monitoring already plays a critical role in informing land managers and governments, and forms a key plank of the federal government's annual State of the Environment reports. Many other examples of the applications our monitoring is put to can be found on the Applications of the Atlas page.
Partnerships
Birds Australia seems to punch well above its weight when it comes to producing quality research and conservation work, and this is in no small part due to the dedication and sacrifice of our staff and volunteers. But we can't do it all alone, and building constructive working partnerships is part of Birds Australia's strategic plan. We work with government agencies, non-government organisations and selected corporations to enhance our strengths and complement our weaknesses. We share data and expertise and forge links with other organisations to build cooperative projects and relationships that add immense value to our conservation efforts.
 Research Discussion Group (BARD)
The Birds Australia Research Discussion Group (BARD) currently has over 120 subscribers from within Australia and overseas. They include post-graduate students, academics, ornithologists working for government agencies and amateur ornithologists. The primary aim of BARD is to facilitate better communication amongst ornithologists carrying out research in the Australasian region. Communications circulated on the list are restricted to discussions of research issues and exchange of information or views, rather than more general issues that might be of interest to the general bird watching community, which is well-served by other lists.
Examples of the kind of information and issues that have appeared on BARD include:
- Requests for advice on particular research methods or sources of information
- Pleas for help and input into the planning of major events like conferences
- Birds Australia news and decisions that affect researchers
- Advertising job vacancies or opportunities for volunteers
- Advertising conferences or workshops
- Advertising scholarships or projects for Postgrads
- The training of ornithologists
- Theoretical aspects of conservation biology
Anyone wishing to join BARD should email the list manager,
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
at the Department of Zoology, La Trobe University.
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Conservation 
