Bird lovers fear annual Australian back yard count will detail species' decline

BirdLife Australia's state of Australia's birds report in July found magpie, kookaburra, lorikeet and willie wagtail numbers are declining

Gazing at large numbers of birds darting overhead may not be ideal for people with Hitchcockian fears but the steady emptying of Australian skies of some species is getting twitchers a little, well, twitchy.

The annual Aussie back yard bird count swooped into action in Melbourne's Federation Square on Tuesday morning with the expectation that some worrying declines in some of Australia's most common birds will be confirmed.