Hi Samuel
Grow plants to create habitat (especially shelter) for small birds.
.
Water is important, but suspended off the ground is safest (from cats).
. Do not just plant so-called bird attracting plants, like Grevilleas and Banksias. Honeyeaters and (if you get them, Lorikeets) are all sugar addicts, like hyperactive 5 year old children, and will chase everything else away.
.
Look at the number of complaints about Noisy Miners and Wattlebirds on this forum.
.
Please read back through the previous postings in this section "bird-friendly gardening".
.
Best of luck.
.
Cheers
Denis
G'day Samuel,try to plant some grasses(native),as Denis said providing habitat is very important & also butterflies like to lay their eggs on them, many of these don't survive as they are a favorite food for birds, yet another way to bring birds to your backyard!.Examples Lomandra longifolia,Dianella(bush tucker) & Gahnia.Also try to keep your water clean!. I do & am rewarded with yellow-tailed black cockies most afternoons, if there is no water you can almost hear them say come on terry fill it up, & if it's full as they fly towards my house you can hear them squark hey over here!, lets meet & up to 20 hang around my yard(urban) as they munch on banksia seeds & have a refreshing drink. All the best young fella!,good luck
All good advise. I really get sick of the old "bird attracting plant "thing as if nectar eaters are the only birds in the world. I live in a semi urban spot and have a lot of different birds because the neighbours and I have a variety of plants from spiky shrubs, nectar producing shrubs, tall seed bearing grasses and tall trees (including gums and fig trees). It looks like variety is the spice of life for birds as well.
Thank you so much for all the advices...I was also having the same problem...and I was very much tensed about it....but now I will try to follow all the advices.....
Leptospermum (tea tree) in my partners words 'grows like a weed' it is an excellent plant to provide shelter for small birds and the insects that inhabit it provide food.
Tea tree takes well to pruning and will thicken up and provide more solid protection for the birds so you don't need to let it grow like a weed and it grows from seed and cutting so you can buy one or two and then propagate more.
It is prickly to touch, hence why the little birds like it so much. and it has small flowers as well.
A thicket of these could be grown against a fence or wall and if water is nearby the little interesting birds will come. Keep it trimmed to a hedge shape for appearances if you like.
We have had zebra finches, superb fairy wrens, striated pardalotes, and several other birds nesting in our tea tree.
Hi folks
My experience is that a wide range of birds will be attracted, over time, to areas where the original vegetation of an area has been replicated as far as possible.
There are also other factors which are important. Replicating the original habibat is enhanced if any original vegetation is retained. This increases the age range of vegetation. Some birds, e.g., hooded robins, are favoured by old trees.
As well, it's important to provide open areas because some birds, e.g, Australian magpies, superb fairy wrens, yellow-rumped thornbills, require open areas in which to forage for food.
A range of vegetation heights is important. This is achieved by growing not only trees but shrubs, grasses, groundcovers, lilies and other small plants. The enouragement of mosses and lichens is a good strategy, too, as these promote open areas & suppress introduced weeds.
To replicate, as far as possible, the original vegetation of an area is to provide the full range of habitats to attract as much as possible of the original animal, including insect, life. Given that everything depends on everything else, this strategy should maximise your chances of attracting a wide range of bird species.
Hi Samuel
Grow plants to create habitat (especially shelter) for small birds.
.
Water is important, but suspended off the ground is safest (from cats).
.
Do not just plant so-called bird attracting plants, like Grevilleas and Banksias. Honeyeaters and (if you get them, Lorikeets) are all sugar addicts, like hyperactive 5 year old children, and will chase everything else away.
.
Look at the number of complaints about Noisy Miners and Wattlebirds on this forum.
.
Please read back through the previous postings in this section "bird-friendly gardening".
.
Best of luck.
.
Cheers
Denis
Denis Wilson
www.peonyden.blogspot.com
G'day Samuel,try to plant some grasses(native),as Denis said providing habitat is very important & also butterflies like to lay their eggs on them, many of these don't survive as they are a favorite food for birds, yet another way to bring birds to your backyard!.Examples Lomandra longifolia,Dianella(bush tucker) & Gahnia.Also try to keep your water clean!. I do & am rewarded with yellow-tailed black cockies most afternoons, if there is no water you can almost hear them say come on terry fill it up, & if it's full as they fly towards my house you can hear them squark hey over here!, lets meet & up to 20 hang around my yard(urban) as they munch on banksia seeds & have a refreshing drink. All the best young fella!,good luck
tez
All good advise. I really get sick of the old "bird attracting plant "thing as if nectar eaters are the only birds in the world. I live in a semi urban spot and have a lot of different birds because the neighbours and I have a variety of plants from spiky shrubs, nectar producing shrubs, tall seed bearing grasses and tall trees (including gums and fig trees). It looks like variety is the spice of life for birds as well.
See Yez
Trev
thanks all good advice
Thank you so much for all the advices...I was also having the same problem...and I was very much tensed about it....but now I will try to follow all the advices.....
Leptospermum (tea tree) in my partners words 'grows like a weed' it is an excellent plant to provide shelter for small birds and the insects that inhabit it provide food.
Tea tree takes well to pruning and will thicken up and provide more solid protection for the birds so you don't need to let it grow like a weed and it grows from seed and cutting so you can buy one or two and then propagate more.
It is prickly to touch, hence why the little birds like it so much. and it has small flowers as well.
A thicket of these could be grown against a fence or wall and if water is nearby the little interesting birds will come. Keep it trimmed to a hedge shape for appearances if you like.
We have had zebra finches, superb fairy wrens, striated pardalotes, and several other birds nesting in our tea tree.
Happy Birding!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138588528@N02/
It is important to keep all chemicals away from your garden.
Oh and if you encourage the little insect eaters to your garden you don't need pesticides!
For snails and slugs I have a pick'n'flick through when I am weeding and toss them out for the birds to find.
Happy Birding!
https://www.flickr.com/photos/138588528@N02/
Hi folks
My experience is that a wide range of birds will be attracted, over time, to areas where the original vegetation of an area has been replicated as far as possible.
There are also other factors which are important. Replicating the original habibat is enhanced if any original vegetation is retained. This increases the age range of vegetation. Some birds, e.g., hooded robins, are favoured by old trees.
As well, it's important to provide open areas because some birds, e.g, Australian magpies, superb fairy wrens, yellow-rumped thornbills, require open areas in which to forage for food.
A range of vegetation heights is important. This is achieved by growing not only trees but shrubs, grasses, groundcovers, lilies and other small plants. The enouragement of mosses and lichens is a good strategy, too, as these promote open areas & suppress introduced weeds.
To replicate, as far as possible, the original vegetation of an area is to provide the full range of habitats to attract as much as possible of the original animal, including insect, life. Given that everything depends on everything else, this strategy should maximise your chances of attracting a wide range of bird species.
Woko