Birds in a Suburban Garden
Wittunga Botanic Gardens
Losing native birds from suburban gardens is an Australia wide trend. The introduced species have largely taken over, especially the Indian Myna and the Common Starling, as well as the Common Blackbird, House Sparrow and Spotted Turtledove.
These species have taken over gardens aggressively and compete with our native birds for food and nesting sites. Added to this mix is the very aggressive native species, the Noisy Miner which exhibits similar tactics to the foreigners.
Cats, dogs and human activity also discourage native birds like the Wrens. Once gone, they are very difficult to get back into a suburban landscape.
Callistemon flower (Bottlebrush)
Having only native trees and bird baths are a good start, but not the complete answer. Providing smaller bushes and ground cover for the smaller birds such as the wrens is most important. Our smaller birds need protection from predators and food such as insects, seeds and also nesting sites that are hidden from those predators.
If you look at a natural environment you will observe many layers – ground covers, small shrubs, taller bushes, medium and large, old growth trees which provide nesting hollows for parrots, lorikeets, possums, owls, bats and so on.
All are essential for a balanced, natural ecosystem and very hard to replicate in a normal suburban backyard. But that should not stop us trying. The more people who take this path, the better the chance of survival will be for many of our lovely birds.
Some suggestions:
- Keep providing water in the form of bird baths (but not food).
- Plant a wide variety of Australian species, preferably species found locally.
- Keep all cats away – they have no place in the Australian landscape. Period.
- Provide nesting boxes for parrots, possums and bats.
- Encourage all your neighbours to do the same.
- Spread the word: our native birds are threatened with extinction.
Flowers of a Eucalyptus Tree
Related articles:
- Caring for orphaned birds
- Caring for injured birds – including links to animal rescue groups
- Great birding moments: Cockatoo Valley – an example of an excellent native garden, together with some beautiful photos of Australian plants.
- Mallee Native Plants Nursery – my wife’s blog about growing Australian Native Plants.
Banksia
Snappy Spotted Pardalotes
Spotted Pardalote
A few days ago I was out in our garden and my attention was alerted by constant snapping noises. It wasn’t loud mind you, but loud enough to be aware of. I knew immediately what to look for. The mallee tree above me had been taken over by about a half dozen Spotted Pardalotes. The soft snapping noise was from their beaks grabbing a feast of little bugs called Lerps which are a form of psyllid sap sucking insects.
I went inside to get my camera and by that time all except one bird had moved on. He was rather shy about having his photo taken, so you will have to be satisfied with the partial view as seen above. If you click on the photo it will enlarge the image. Then you might be just able to see on the leaves the waxy scale like coverings the Lerps like to hide under.
To learn more about the Lerps insects click here.
Related articles:
Adelaide Rosella comes to visit
Adelaide Rosella
Yesterday we had a glorious spring morning. We spent a few hours chatting with our daughter who has been visiting over the last few days. We were enjoying being able to sit on the front verandah enjoying the beautiful day.
While chatting – and having a lovely cup of chai tea – my attention was suddenly drawn by the call of an unusual bird in the tree across the driveway. On investigation I found it was a solitary Adelaide Rosella.
This species is common throughout the Adelaide Hills some 50km to the west of Murray Bridge but not at all common around here. We do have the occasional visitor, but this only happens maybe several times a year.
As I moved towards the tree, camera at the ready, an aggressive Red Wattlebird chased the Rosella away. Can’t blame the Wattlebird; it has a nest only a few metres away – not that the Rosella was about to take and egg or chick from the nest.
The photo above was taken elsewhere some time ago.
Read some related articles:
- Eastern Rosella
- Budgerigars
- King Parrot
- Cockatoo close encounter
- So that’s who’s been eating my flowers
- Musk Lorikeets
Read through some more of my articles about parrots and lorikeets here.
Red Wattlebird nesting?
Red Wattlebird
While having breakfast a few days ago my wife and I were fascinated by the antics of two of our resident Red Wattlebirds (a species of honeyeater). They were cavorting around in the melaleuca bushes a few metres from our sun room.
Now – don’t get me wrong. When I say ‘cavorting’ I do not mean that they were up to any hanky-panky. THAT obviously had already happened, I’d say.
This pair was busily swinging on twigs trying to break them off the bush. Every time one came off they would then fly directly to a eucalypt tree about forty metres away.
Ah-ha – nest building thinks I. Reasonably logical conclusion, I thought. So after breakfast I wandered casually over to said tree to investigate.
What? No nest! I was perplexed. I could find nothing. Mmm… perhaps they are quite clever at disguising the nest in the outer foliage. Not sure what they were up to if they weren’t nest building.
UPDATE: I went and had another look just now. Clever birds. It was there all the time, not in the tree where they were flying, but in the two metre high bush under the tree. Very sneaky.
Red Wattlebird
A moral dilemma – with a bird’s nest
New Holland Honeyeater nest in boxthorn bush
Today I was faced with a moral dilemma.
I was trimming some bushes and branches with my chainsaw. This included a rather overgrown Boxthorn bush where it should not have been. I ripped into it with the saw, being careful not to get ripped into by the nasty spikes that cover boxthorn bushes. I managed to come away with only one scratch on my arm.
I had almost finished and straightened up to survey my work. A New Holland Honeyeater was going ballistic in the tree above me. Oh no, I thought. My worst fears were suddenly realised. I had partially removed a part of the boxthorn which contained a beautiful nest, complete with two eggs.
Here was my moral dilemma. The local council authorities insist I destroy all boxthorns on my property. My wife wanted the bush removed, and I wanted the nasty thing gone too. On the other hand, the wildlife authorities say that it is illegal to remove or destroy a bird nest.
In a piece of quick thinking I cut off the portion containing the nest. I then removed all of the offending bush. I placed the portion of the boxthorn containing the nest in the fork of the tree less than a metre from the original site of the nest (see photo above).
And I stood back to see to see what would happen. Within a minute the honeyeater was back on the nest. A great sigh of relief. I gave the nest a wide berth all afternoon until carefully taking the photos on this page. The shot below shows the bird still sitting on the eggs, watching me rather warily. (Click on the photo to enlarge the image – this will show the bird more clearly.)
The downside is that a little part of the garden will have to wait for the promised clean up for a few weeks. That’s not a problem – there’s plenty more to do elsewhere.
New Holland Honeyeater nest in boxthorn bush