In first 48 hours alone, NSW residents submitted 2,532 checklists to help BirdLife Australia count more than 400,000 birds across the country.

It is done by way of a smart phone app, named the ‘Aussie Bird Count’.

Anyone can download the app and record sightings anywhere there are birds, anytime of the day or night, as many times as they like.

The idea is to collect information on our birds to help with conservation.

One person who has been participating is Laurieton resident Peter West, a bird lover for more than 45 years.

“It’s something I’ve avidly done for a while,” he said.

“My favourite bird is the superb parrot that lives at Cowra. They don’t appear in Port Macquarie but they are beautiful.”

Mr West is worried about the rapid decline in birds, including common icons like the kookaburra.

“Even they are declining quite rapidly,” he said.

“It is sad as they are an important part of our environment. Most of this is because habitats are being removed.”

The count has shown the magpie is the most sighted bird, something that doesn’t surprise Mr West.

“They are very common, along with the rainbow lorikeet. Magpies are everywhere, and the thing is that everyone knows them,” he said.

“Some people may not be aware of some of the birds we have here. Some of those include the eastern curlew or the Australasian bittern.

“The other two rare birds that I’ve spotted in Port Macquarie are the swift parrot and the regent honeyeater which are both critically endangered.

“There are roughly 350 in existence in the whole world and we had one in Lake Cathie for two months earlier this year, so that is magnificent to have one appear on the Mid North Coast.”

The bird count wraps up on Sunday, October 23.