A woman complained to me the other day that she never sees small birds in her garden, and that the only birds that ever visit were, I quote, “A magpie with his young one, and those horrible bully birds.”
The horrible bully birds she was referring to are actually Noisy Miners or Micky Birds – a somewhat aggressive native Honeyeater. And yes, they are bullies, but they do have some redeeming features. For example, they are brilliant parents, form little communities, sound a warning call that makes every other bird stop and check for danger, and keep predatory birds out of their territory. You’ll often see a Crow or Kookaburra, or something similar speeding away from a little speck in the sky – often a Noisy Miner. The Crow or other large predatory bird attack and eat smaller birds. So basically, here’s the sad truth – if you have a family of crows or Kookaburras in your garden, then it’s highly likely you won’t have any small birds, like wrens, Silvereyes or small Honeyeaters.
So, the little Bully Birds ‘bullying ways’ are actually helping out the smaller birds – by default!
And please don’t get our native Noisy Miner mixed up with Indian Mynahs. Indian Mynahs are the birds responsible for the deaths of so many of our native baby parrots in tree hollows. They are extremely aggressive and steal nesting hollows from our native wildlife. So please don’t condemn the Noisy Miner for that – they are a totally different bird.
Anyway, back to the story…
The reason for this woman’s aggravation was that as she knocked on my door she saw a small family of Silvereyes scouting through the shrubs in my front garden, and she wanted to know why she never got them at her place when she only lived a block away.
LTSH (Long Term Suffering Husband) asked the most logical question: ‘Do you have a cat?’
“No”
Cats allowed to wander about can be a major deterrent and death of birds in any garden. But this wasn’t the woman’s problem either.
LTSH: “Dog?”
“No”
I asked, “Do you spray insecticide or anything outside your house?”
“No”
LTSH: “Do you have plants?” I couldn’t help nudging him.
“Yes, and we’ve kept them very tidy. Not scraggly at all.” I noticed her glance around our front garden, and I had to hide my smile.
I immediately knew the problem.
“Have you cut off the lower branches and foliage that is close to the ground from your trees and shrubs?” I asked.
Yes, was the answer.
Small birds like to have plenty of foliage in which to hide as they travel up and down shrubs searching for food. The majority are not fond of getting up high in the top foliage where they can be easily spotted by predators from above. And they like thick foliage in lower branches so they are hidden from predators below.
Keeping areas around trees and shrubs ‘spotlessly tidy’ maybe attractive to some people – and if that’s what you want, then continue doing it. But just be aware it’s not necessarily attractive to wildlife.
Leaf litter attracts ground insects that small birds love to eat. As the insects travel up the truck or shrub foliage the small birds are able to pick them off.
Know that birds have different feeding requirements. They’re not all seed eaters, as so many people incorrectly assume. Small birds mainly fall into the following groups (and some fall into more than one group):
- Insectivores – These guys mainly eat insects. So growing plants that attract insects (native flowering plants like banksias, bottlebrush, and grevilleas) and leaving leaf little or planting your garden to create lots of nooks and crannies where insects love to hide, will help to supply enough food for Insectivorous Birds. Examples of these birds are: Wrens, Pardalotes, Willy Waigtails and Swallows.
- Nectarivores – These guys eat insects as well as Nectar. So plant native flowering shrubs and trees. Examples are: Honeyeaters, Friar Birds and Silvereyes.
- Granivores – These are grain-eaters. Grow some millet or milo. Or you may decide to sprinkle some seed around under your trees for these birds. If you put out a bowl of seed, make sure you clean it every day (and dry it thoroughly) to avoid any unwell birds from sharing their germs. (You wouldn’t like to eat off the same plate as someone who has a cold, would you? Well, birds feel the same way!)
- Frugivores – Fruit eating birds. These birds love figs, native cherries, native raspberries, mulberries, paw paw, guavas, bananas, lilly-pilly fruit, as well as insects. Small Frugivores include the Mistletoe Birds, Orioles, Figbirds, and Rainforest Pigeons.
There are other bird groups (eg. waders, raptors, etc.) but consist mainly of larger birds which you most likely won’t find in your back yard. I’m sure most gardeners would collapse with shock to discover an Albatross sitting in their frog pond!
Here are some other strategies for attracting small birds to your garden:
- Don’t leave out dog food or cat food. This attracts Indian Mynahs, Magpies or Crows – known predators of small birds.
- Keep your cat inside.
- If you dog attacks or chases birds, keep him/her inside or in a contained area. After coming home from work and finding a pile of feathers in their back yard, friends of mine created a ‘dog run’ on their back verandah. Coochie (‘dog of many breeds’ as he’s known) spends his time chasing a ball around the fenced off verandah, enjoying the lovely breezes during summer, and has been ‘potty trained’ on a newspaper lined tray.
- Set up a bird bath. Be sure to keep it clean. No bird wishes to drink or bathe in dirty, moss-filled water. Place the bird bath in the shade – cool water is more attractive than hot water on a scorching summer’s day. Don’t fill the bird bath too deeply. One gardener set up an old bathtub as his bird bath. One day a poor bird got in – and unable to reach the bottom with his feet, and being wet, was unable to fly out again, and sadly, drowned. A better idea is to invest in one of the standard bird baths from your local hardware or garden nursery. Others has put pot plant saucers on top of rocks and logs to which birds have come to drink and bathe.
- Plant a variety of trees and shrubs to cater for the different food requirements of the different types of birds.
- And remember, ‘neat and pretty’ to you is not always desirable to small birds. Leaf litter is a great home for insects. And foliage on lower branches of trees and shrubs creates places to hide while foraging for food.
Small birds are a pleasure to have around your garden. There’s nothing quite like waking to the gentle trilling of a Fairy Wren, or hearing the cranky ‘chi chi chi’ of a Willy Wagtail outside your window.