I'm a newbie so I'll have to ask for some patience here. This is a topic that has likely been done to death previously.
It's clear to me that native birds of particular species have moved into the Eastern Suburbs of Melbourne (specifically Glen Iris) heavily over my lifetime. Currawongs are the latest--I never heard or saw them there till over the last few years. Magpie numbers are increasing. Noisy Miners are more and more common, and even Little Corellas. I hear Butcher Birds more often. And I see Frogmouths more and more frequently. At the same time, Mynahs have almost disappeared, blackbirds are rare, and even pigeons seem rarer. I'm guessing that this largely because of the increase in mature native trees, due to changes in approach of both private and council gardeners over the decades.
Is there a site that charts the shift in bird populations over time?
On the same topic, Rainbow Lorikeets have plainly established themselves very well, not just around areas like Royal Park but all over Melbourne. They can be found almost everywhere, and go overhead all the time. On the one hand, this is great, but I wonder why other species haven't been as succesful, and even if the Rainbow Lorikeets will end up 'locking other species out'.
I'm not very familiar with eastern Melbourne, paulhugan, but I note that all of the species you mention are dependent, at least in part, on trees; there's no mention of native understorey shrubs, herbs & grasses which would provide habitat for smaller birds such as wrens, finches & thornbills. Revegetation projects all over Australia tend to focus on trees rather than the full comunity of plants which once existed.
Adding to the picture is that areas dominated by trees such as council parks tend to favor Noisy Miners - in themselves a dominant bird species.
one train of thought is that is Rainbow Lorikeets aren't even a resident native to Melbourne (they are rare in much of Vic including surrounding areas), early settlers had no records and until the 1960s they did not exist as a breeding bird in the region, in the ensuing decades they have undergone a population explosion, I suspect aided in no small part by escapees/liberations, they seem to mainly nest in date palms (introduced), (in fact the Rainbows are less common in natural bush than suburban areas!) though it may be the Rainbows migrated down from east coast Aust when people started planting 'native' subtropical vegetation (Koels are the latest addition to have followed suit). it should be noted that the vast majority of eucalypts planted in Melbourne are not indigenous species.
Musk Lorikeets have also undergone a population explosion, apparently the Little Lorikeet was the original Melbourne lorikeet species but it's seldom seen/heard these days.
some suburbs even have Scaly-breasted Lorikeets, as to their origin I can only speculate
Little Corellas arrived during the drought and have decided to stay, some 'burbs have Long-billed Corellas as well (a bird formerly found only in western Victoria)
Brown Thornbills also did not colonise Melbourne suburbia until recent decades.
As for the Noisy Miners Woko has it covered in terms of likely reasons- in many suburbs these birds have eliminated White-plumed Honeyeaters, pardalotes, and Eastern Spinebills.
I reckon Blackbirds have been chased away/predated in Magpies, Grey Butcherbirds, Currawongs and Little Ravens (actually I think the last may be the commonest bird overall in Melbourne) though are still pretty common in many burbs. House Sparrows are seldom seen except around bakeries these days (there has been a worldwide decline). I still think Common Starlings and Common Mynas remain common overall (though there may have been seen some localised declines with predation by currawongs et al./competition with Noisy Miners).
No doubt these big aggressive native birds have been advantaged by widespread planting of non-indigenous native vegetation, though I think we may eventually see a swing back in favour of introduced birds with all the subdivision/development of double units and mcmansions in many older burbs supplanting leafy gardens with nearly sterile exotic formal gardens.
It's certainly interesting to see what's happening in Mt Barker, SA, near where I live. Massive & rapid suburbanization is seeing the destruction of many old Eucalypts which were once on farm land but are now under the pump from wretched developers. The Eucalypts' replacements are sterile ornamental pines & other introduced species which are now de rigeur in the gardens of bright new homes which, we're told, are providing rural life styles.
Already there's anecdotal evidence to suggest that bird species such as Striated Pardalotes, Rainbow Lorikeets, Musk Lorikeets, New Holland Honeyeaters & White-plumed Honeyeaters are in serious decline in the Mt Barker area, notwithstanding the Rainbow Lorikeet logo of one of the main developers! Of course, many birds, particularly the smaller species which once inhabited the Mt Barker area, were made locally extinct by the clearing of land for agriculture back in the day.
It's worth keeping in mind that the developers are only hastening the demise of old Eucalypts because few farmers are allowing recruitment of new generations of Eucalypts through regeneration.
The Mt Barker Council has in small part compensated for the crass, anti-environment approach of the developers by revegetating part of a creek with indigenous species & developing the Laratinga Wetlands. And I suggest that due to the rack 'em, pack 'em & stack 'em model of housing development being used it will be aeons before there'll be room for new Eucalypts whether they be introduced or indigenous.
But overall, vast, negative changes are being made to our natural environment by insensitive human behaviour which is swamping whatever remnants of native vegetation remain. At least in parts of Melbourne some folk are attempting recompense by providing a form of habitat for wildlife. Not so much near where I live.
hmmm, maybe Noisy Miner habitat is better than no habitat. having a handful of native bird and mammal species in suburbia is better than none...
Thanks everyone for your comments. I guess the problem is that park gardeners will tend to favour something like open forest, but without much understory.
I live in the western suburbs now, and there are far more introduced birds here. At the same time, I see whiteyes here, and I never see them in the eastern suburbs. And now a Willie Wagtail seems to have moved into the neighbourhood. It's also noteworthy that in nearby Canning Park there are lots of Fairy Wrens and firetails, so plainly all they need is some of the right cover.
At the house I used to live in in the eastern suburbs, I used to see a family of Fairy Wrens about once a year--where they hung out the rest of the time I have no idea. Also, I have only seen an Eastern Spinebill twice in my life--the first time was standing in that garden, it came and fed on a fuschia, and I just happened to be standing there with a neighbour who was a biology lecturer at Melbourne Uni--he said matter of factly "That's a spinebill."
I guess the take home message is that the available vegetation has a huge influence on bird populations, native birds are quite capable of pushing back at introduced species, and that the birds are there and will exploit the habitat if it is available. All encouraging, in the sense that only the (human) will is needed to make things happen.
I think you've got it there, paulhugan. The more we can replicate the natural bushland in our parks & gardens the more likely it is we'll attract a wide range of the birds which used to be in an area before the bush was cleared.
And, yes, my own observations tell me that the higher the quality of habitat the better the chances of native birds competing against feral species.