Yellow tailed black cockatoo. All paintings by Patsy Hunt By Patsy Hunt
IT’S really not all that difficult to bring birds into your surroundings. If you have a garden, no matter what size, put in some bird attracting plants and shrubs to provide food and shelter. Then, most importantly, provide a water supply. Water bowls don't have to be fancy, as long as you provide containers of different depth and, for the smaller birds, have them off the ground. The bowls will have to be refilled frequently, especially in hot dry weather, and cleaned sometimes. Then sit back and watch the birds come to you. Again I stress that there is no need to feed them regularly, which in fact can be a bad thing by upsetting the balance of bird species. Birds will soon find the new sources of food, water and shelter that you have provided. Many bird species are struggling as their habitat is lost so every new piece of habitat is important.
IT’S really not all that difficult to bring birds into your surroundings. If you have a garden, no matter what size, put in some bird attracting plants and shrubs to provide food and shelter. Then, most importantly, provide a water supply. Water bowls don't have to be fancy, as long as you provide containers of different depth and, for the smaller birds, have them off the ground. The bowls will have to be refilled frequently, especially in hot dry weather, and cleaned sometimes. Then sit back and watch the birds come to you. Again I stress that there is no need to feed them regularly, which in fact can be a bad thing by upsetting the balance of bird species. Birds will soon find the new sources of food, water and shelter that you have provided. Many bird species are struggling as their habitat is lost so every new piece of habitat is important.
The occasional visitors
Here are some birds that occasionally visit the garden. Firstly the tiny Silvereye, which arrives in large numbers during winter months, some coming across from Tasmania. These tiny birds (12cm long) come to our garden in small flocks with their high pitched calls and feed as a group patrolling the trees and shrubs. They are olive green with a yellow chin, white and rufous underparts and the distinctive white ring around their eyes. These beautiful little birds obviously are very aware of safety in numbers and it is wonderful to watch them flitting around together like colourful butterflies. Silvereyes arrive in the shrubs above the bird table and then fly down in small groups of about six to drink and bathe together. After a short splashy session they will fly back up to the safety of the shrubs to preen and another group will take their turn at the bird bath. Then with a blink of an eye the whole flock quickly disappears. They visit daily for a few weeks and then move on. Silvereyes are most welcome visitors, although the small birds that reside permanently in the garden may not agree.
A very different visitor is the Brown Goshawk. It arrives on quiet wings flying swiftly through the vegetation in search of prey, and then disappears just as quickly and silently as it came.
I was privileged one day to have a close up view of the goshawk through the window as he rested on a tree stump in the front garden. The goshawk is a large bird (males 38 to 45cm, females 45 to 55cm) with grey head, brownish back, striped chest and yellow legs and eyes – quite a majestic visitor. I am aware that it preys on the birds in the garden, but that is just part of the natural scheme of things. One day a goshawk glided into the back garden, silently grabbed an astonished Indian Mynah from the tall yellow ash tree and was gone with the squawking victim – all in the space of about 30 seconds.
I was privileged one day to have a close up view of the goshawk through the window as he rested on a tree stump in the front garden. The goshawk is a large bird (males 38 to 45cm, females 45 to 55cm) with grey head, brownish back, striped chest and yellow legs and eyes – quite a majestic visitor. I am aware that it preys on the birds in the garden, but that is just part of the natural scheme of things. One day a goshawk glided into the back garden, silently grabbed an astonished Indian Mynah from the tall yellow ash tree and was gone with the squawking victim – all in the space of about 30 seconds.
Then there are the Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos. Their presence is first announced with their loud distinctive call and then they appear floating majestically across the sky with slow wing beats. Large black birds (56-66cm) with yellow cheek and tail markings, they are wonderful to watch in flight. They sit in the casuarina tree methodically eating the nuts in a very dignified fashion. For such large birds they are not noisy and I have often been in the garden unaware of their presence above me until I hear them cracking their food. These birds began visiting in large numbers after the severe Victorian bushfires some years ago and have been regular visitors since. Yellow-tailed Black Cockatoos have great dignity and when we hear their special call we rush outside to watch them fly slowly overhead.
The final elusive visitor is the Powerful Owl. While we have yet to actually see one in our garden we have heard its call on calm clear nights on several occasions and know that it was definitely sighted in the next street. The largest Australian owl (55cm in length) it is a greyish brown bird with striped chest and bright yellow eyes. Its call is a slow deep resonant double hoot – just the call you would expect an owl to make. The call can be heard for some distance which makes it difficult to accurately pick its position. We were privileged to see a roosting powerful owl in a reserve a few years ago and maybe one day one will be in our garden - we know it’s out there!