Birdbath A Must
Gang-gang Cockatoos at our birdbath
If you want to enjoy the birdlife in your garden then having a birdbath is a must. So many people have bird feeders, laying out seeds etc for birds to eat. We are very worried about this approach as it has so many negative impacts on indigenous birds. Changing their foraging behaviours & diet and increasing their potential to get sick from malnutrition or diseases at uncleaned bird feeders. Not to mention that it encourages some of the feral birds in our area like Indian Mynahs, Starlings and Feral Pigeons which all compete with our indigenous wildlife for resources.
All you need is a birdbath strategically located in a highly visible place so you can observe and enjoy all your visitors. Almost every bird species that we have observed on our block uses our birdbath. The exception is Kookaburra’s they are always here singing away in the trees, but we never see them use the birdbath.
King Parrot eating seeds of Cherry Ballart - Exocarpus cupressifirmis. Also a Bushtucker plant.
Just keep the birdbath clean and topped up with fresh water. Birdbaths require a bit more cleaning in summer as warmer water gets dirtier more quickly and the sides may need a regular scrub to remove algae build up. Also place the birdbath in an area which has good landing places and a bit of vegetation, preferably indigenous plants around it as the birds like to come in and land on a branch nearby to check out the safety of the birdbath first.
We do also ensure that we actually provide visiting birds and other wildlife with food, but we do this by ensuring that we keep indigenous plants in the garden of which they regularly come to feed from. We can’t stress enough how important keeping our gardens full of local plants of different varieties is to ensure the diversity of wildlife come to visit.
Many people these days are obsessed with behaviours that are going to be seriously detrimental to maintaining wildlife diversity – biodiversity. Mowing (especially mowing bush and turning it into weeds), fire prevention practices which includes mowing and other forms of “tidying up” such as picking up all the groundcovers (leaves, twigs, logs etc) and an overall lack of appreciation or understanding of how beautiful our indigenous plants are. Usually this is shown through planting exoctic plants – do people see these as more beautiful? Even worse when indigenous plants are removed to plant exotic ones!
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