They might not realise it, but school children from across the Bega Valley are playing their part in revitalising a lost art.
Back in 1910, the Gould League of Bird Lovers was founded to divert children from collecting the eggs of native birds and encourage them to observe birds and practise their calls.
Two years later, an annual bird calling competition began in Sydney.
By the early 1950s, students from schools on the NSW far south coast were emerging as some of the best bird callers in the state.
The bush kids imitated bird calls that the city kids had never heard before.
They won the competition — and kept winning, bringing home the Dawson Memorial Shield six times from 1953 to 1962.
In 2018, inspired by ABC's coverage of the historic competition, the Bournda Environmental Education Centre worked with schools to revive the contest.
The Bournda Bird Olympics is now in its fifth year.
With COVID-19 forcing one cancellation and an attempt at holding the event online, there was an extra buzz around this year's gathering of 45 children from six schools at Potoroo Palace animal sanctuary near Merimbula.
Bournda Environmental Education Centre principal Doug Reckord said it was about connecting with the past and encouraging students to observe and look after wildlife.
"We've even heard the birds calling back from up in the trees," he said.
Former champion Bruce Chapman, who represented Merimbula public school at the Sydney competition in 1953 and 1954, is a regular judge of the modern-day event.
"We're judging them on enthusiasm, clarity and accuracy," Mr Chapman said.
"I think all of them would have got three out of three for enthusiasm."
Birds back after fires, floods
Mr Chapman has remained an avid observer of birds since his childhood bird calling years.
But he has been missing the bush thrush and spotted pardalote that were once regulars in his backyard.
He pointed to the devastating impact of the 2019-2020 bushfires, wet weather conditions in recent years, and changing seasonal patterns.
"I've noticed just this year that the birds are just starting to come back again, after a couple of very, very bad years," Mr Chapman said.
"There are a lot of birds coming back, and it's wonderful to see."
