Veliky Novgorod has considerable potential for birdwatching development due to its rich bird biodiversity and possibility of combining cultural and eco-tourism, as more and more people are interested in the quality of the urban environment. Reporting of bird sightings by members of the public provides an opportunity to collect data continuously over wider geographical areas, increase detectability of species. Modern technologies greatly facilitate what was previously available only to professionals: photo and video recording of sightings, definition of species. This potential is not fully realized, which is clearly demonstrated by the fact that the all-Russian platform Online Diaries of Bird Observation does not provide data for the Novgorod region at all. The research methods were: observation, survey of students, teachers, and employees of the Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, analysis of cartographic data for 2016-2020. The community of amateurs is concentrated around enthusiasts of professional ornithologists, as in the community of Birds of Novgorod Region. Since 2016, Veliky Novgorod has been providing data on the Nightingale evenings platform, after an increase in 2017, the number of respondents remained the same. Since only a part of respondents are permanent, and there are no regular routes for shift ones, the coverage of districts is uneven. Each year information is provided by 16-28 people, sightings vary from 84 to 116. To attract birdwatching volunteers to monitor birds in Novgorod region, one needs to develop a special project, including through NovSU project activities.