Australia's birds: pretty and sweet or just a pack of bastards? | Sean Dooley

The Aussie Backyard Bird Count begins on Monday and an exceptionally dry 2019 could see a changing of the guard in the top 10

" The Guardian/Bird Life Australia bird of the year poll returns on 28 October

Since BirdLife Australia launched the Aussie Backyard Bird Count in 2014, the number of participants has risen from 9,000 to over 70,000. Unsurprisingly, the amount of birds that have been counted in our cities and towns has also risen - from 850,000 to more than 2.75 million birds last year.

Yet when it comes to the top 10 most commonly seen birds, the song remains the same, with the same species entrenched firmly at the top every year. It's the birding equivalent of tuning into Countdown in the 70s to find Abba's Fernando top of the charts for the 27th week in a row.