Hundreds of citizen scientists are set for a stint of bird spotting as the annual New Zealand Garden Bird Survey gets underway on Saturday.

It's the 19th time that Te Tatauranga o ngā Manu Māra o Aotearoa has been held.

From now until 6 July people were encouraged to get out in their garden or go to a local park and look at and listen for birds for one hour, on one day, and record the highest number of each species they notice.

How to take part in the New Zealand Garden Bird Survey:

1. Visit the NZ Garden Bird Survey website to get started.
2. Select a garden or a local park.
3. Choose any ONE day between 28 June and 6 July.
4. Look and listen for birds on that day for ONE hour.
5. For each species, record the HIGHEST number seen or heard at one time.
6. Submit the results online via the NZ Garden Bird Survey website's Take Part page.