The joy of small birds
Practical ways to welcome small bird species into your garden
Quieter and less obtrusive than some of their flashier counterparts, small birds such as honeyeaters, finches and fantails add special charm to the garden – and they need our help. Here are practical ways to make them feel welcome, by wildlife expert LEONARD CRONIN
Ilove the emerald-green flash of king parrots sweeping through our treetops, the fluting melodies of currawongs, and the inquisitive nature of our local magpie families. Our dawn chorus is dominated by noisy miners, currawongs, kookaburras and other large birds, yet what intrigues me is the background vocal tapestry of trills, pings, soft pipings and whistles. Rich in content and mysterious in their complexity, most of these varied and delightful calls are conversations between small songbirds.
There was a time, not long ago, when our woodlands resounded with the singing of wrens, robins, thornbills, pardalotes, babblers, whistlers, fantails, honeyeaters and countless other small birds. Since European settlement, and increasingly in the past few decades, 80 per cent of our temperate woodlands have been cleared, leading to a worrying decline in woodland birds, with one in four listed as threatened.
Small birds are very sensitive to creeping urbanisation, but we are in a position to help reverse their decline by encouraging them back to our gardens and creating habitat webs that extend through urban areas. While you may regard your garden as an isolated unit, from a bird’s perspective it is part of a habitat web that connects parks, gardens, open green spaces and remnant bushland, offering food, shelter, and nesting and roosting sites. If you take a bird’s-eye view of your local area (try Google Maps), you can see how your garden connects to surrounding habitats. Each piece is vital to the birds in your area.
garden design
Small birds disperse seeds, pollinate flowers and keep insects under control. To thrive, they need food, water, and safe places to raise their young and to hide from the large, aggressive birds that often dominate urban landscapes. Butcherbirds and currawongs may sing like seraphim, but they will happily skewer the nestlings of other birds for dinner, and wattle birds and noisy miners terrify smaller birds, chasing them out of their nesting and feeding sites.
Large birds love open spaces with scattered trees, lawns and paved areas. So plan your garden to deter the bullies, and create a well-structured shrub and mid-storey layer to provide shelter, safety and food resources for smaller birds.
Begin by reshaping and reducing lawns and paved areas by curving them around densely planted garden beds. Divide your garden into discrete spaces and plant a mix of shrubs, trees of various heights, grasses and groundcovers. If you have space, plant small groups of shrubs to provide a mini habitat. Avoid planting exotic, berry-producing shrubs that attract pied currawongs. Use indigenous (locally native) plants, as they are suited to the area and are traditionally used by local birds. If you’re not sure which plants to use, or which birds are likely to be found in your area, ask your council for a list.
plant choices
It can take a few years for new plants to become established, so plant or replant small patches at a time to retain the birds that already use your garden. Small, dense shrubs such as dwarf lillypilly (Acmena smithii var. minor) and miniature baeckea
(Baeckea virgata nana) create shelter and nest sites for small native birds, while spiky plants such as sweet bursaria (Bursaria spinosa) and the compact Hakea bakeriana
are no-go areas for predator birds. Prune regularly to give a more formal look to your garden and encourage extra bushiness.
Small birds eat nectar, seeds and insects, so the right mix of plants can provide them with a wide variety of food for most of the year. Native grasses are sought after by robins, whistlers, fantails and wrens for seeds and nesting materials, and the seed heads often last for months. Clumps of lomandra, kangaroo grass (Themeda triandra), wallaby grass (Austrodanthonia
spp.), plume grass (Dichelachne crinita), tussock grass (Poa spp.) and speargrass
(Austrostipa spp.) produce lots of seeds and look great in beds and borders.
Honeyeaters and other nectar-feeding birds can’t resist the copious nectar produced by grevillea, bottlebrush and banksia. A mix of these long-flowering plants provides food in autumn and winter when little else is in bloom. Choose small local natives rather than the large, showy hybrids that attract large, aggressive mynas, lorikeets and honeyeaters.
Superb fairy-wrens, robins and thornbills feed on insects and other invertebrates found in leaf litter, on bark and among foliage. They also need to be in, or close to, dense vegetation to feel secure. Small flowering shrubs, such as wattle and tea-tree, provide food and shelter for both insect-eating and nectar-feeding birds. Mulch well, and spread garden prunings and twigs beneath shrubs, where they will become food for all kinds of invertebrates.
Water is essential, and is easily catered for with a birdbath. Place it next to a dense shrub to provide small birds with a place to hide when larger birds come by. Keep the birdbath clean, and change the water daily. Position the birdbath so you can see it from a window or patio, where you can sit back and enjoy the avian antics.
know your birds
Here are 10 beautiful small bird species found in Australian gardens. Enjoy getting to know your backyard visitors a bit better, and take satisfaction in creating garden spaces that make them feel welcome.
1 EASTERN SPINEBILL
Acanthorhynchus tenuirostris Great Dividing Range, eastern and south-eastern coastal areas from Cooktown (Queensland) to the Flinders Ranges (SA), Tasmania
This curious bird may approach to investigate if you move around the garden making squeaky sounds. It uses its long, curved bill to tap into nectar at the base of slender, tubular and bell-shaped flowers. It visits hundreds every day, making it one of our most important pollinators.
Food It feeds on flowers in the early morning, drinking the nectar that has built up overnight. It also takes insects from the foliage and branches of trees.
Garden habitat Plant plenty of spiky shrubs for this bird to hide in, along with grevillea, callistemon, eremophila, native peas and other nectar-rich plants. It will visit your birdbath in the late afternoon, sallying in from a nearby branch.
2
Rhipidura albiscapa Australia-wide
This inquisitive little bird is always on the move, twisting and turning in flight, catching insects in midair, and swishing its tail from side to side when perched. It is very curious, following people through the bush, and often approaching if you imitate its tinkling, whistling call or make kissing or humming sounds.
Food It eats wasps, flies, bees, dragonflies and bugs, which it catches in flight.
Garden habitat This bird is attracted to densely planted gardens, and needs trees to build its wineglass-shaped nest in a fork 2–5m high. It will use a birdbath if it can hide from predators in adjacent shrubbery.
3 SILVEREYE
Zosterops lateralis
Tasmania, eastern, southern and south-western Australia from Cape York (Queensland) to Shark Bay (WA)
Tough and hardy, this lively, chirpy bird can live to be 10 years old. It flies great distances to escape winter, with some Tasmanian residents travelling more than 1600km to south-eastern Queensland.
Food It finds bugs and insects in the dense, shrubby understorey. It loves the nectar of native trees and shrubs, and the fruit of spreading flax-lily (Dianella revoluta) and beard-heath (Leucopogon parviflorus).
Garden habitat It builds a tiny nest in a tree fork up to 5m high, so keep an eye out if pruning between August and February. Plant soft shrubs and spiky bushes 1–2m high to give protection, as this bird travels between tall trees and the ground.
4 SCARLET ROBIN
Petroica boodang Tasmania, south-western WA, southeastern Queensland to south-eastern SA
This species is curious and often quite tame. The male has brighter plumage than the female. In the breeding season, the male gathers food for the brooding female, and fiercely defends their territory. They often migrate to higher altitudes in summer. Food It eats bugs, insects and spiders, foraging mainly on the ground in winter, and in the tree canopy in summer.
Garden habitat Plant a dense undergrowth of different-sized native shrubs, such as native rosemary (Westringia fruticosa) and hairy wattle (Acacia vestita), to provide cool shelter. Mulch well, and retain fallen wood and leaf litter as habitat for invertebrates.
5 RED-BROWED FINCH
Neochmia temporalis
Eastern and south-eastern coastal areas from Cape York (Queensland) to the Mount Lofty Ranges (SA)
Sporting an unmistakable bright red eyebrow, beak and rump, this chirpy, gregarious bird usually feeds in flocks of 10–20 individuals, often with other finches, parrots and families of superb fairy-wrens.
Food It feeds mostly on grass and sedge seeds taken from the ground or while balancing on seed heads, and occasionally eats small insects from foliage.
Garden habitat Plant native grasses
(and allow them to seed) interspersed with dense understorey shrubs. This bird will come to a feeding station if the seeds are small, and if large birds are excluded.
6 SUPERB FAIRY-WREN
Malurus cyaneus Tasmania, south-eastern Australia from Tropic of Capricorn to south-eastern SA
Perky and bold, this endearing bird is usually seen in family groups. Males are brightly coloured, and females and juveniles are dull brown. The male sings to his eggs so his chicks learn to reproduce his unique song. In the dark of the nest, this allows parents to identify their own chicks and evict those of cuckoos.
Food This bird eats crickets, other insects and small bugs, and usually feeds on the ground with family members.
Garden habitat Grow thickets of shrubs with prickly branches or leaves to provide nesting sites and protection from predators. Piles of mulch and branches create habitat for bugs and insects.
7 RUFOUS FANTAIL
Rhipidura rufifrons
Northern and eastern coastal regions of Australia
Unlike many other bird species, the female rufous fantail is as colourful as the male.
Both have a bright reddish-brown eyebrow and rump, and fan their tails constantly. Although fast and flighty, this fantail is wary of people, and often hides in bushes. However, if you stay still and quiet, it may come close to check you out.
Food This bird feeds mostly on insects caught in flight, usually quite close to the ground. It often teams up with other birds to flush out insects into the open. Garden habitat Plant an understorey of dense, spiky, local native shrubs, with a birdbath placed close by.
8 SCARLET HONEYEATER
Myzomela sanguinolenta
East coast from Cooktown (Queensland) to Gippsland (Victoria)
The male of Australia’s smallest honeyeater has a vivid scarlet head and back, while the female is dull brown above, and is much quieter than her male partner, whose tinkling call gives him away.
This bird travels around urban areas looking for its favourite flowering plants, especially in winter when food is scarce. Food Pairs often forage together for nectar, which is supplemented with fruit, and insects gleaned from foliage. Large, aggressive honeyeaters often chase this bird from its feeding sites.
Garden habitat Plant winter-flowering, smaller grevillea, callistemon and banksia, and prune regularly to keep them dense. Provide a dense, prickly understorey for shelter, with a birdbath nearby. Protect any tall, mature trees that may be used by this bird for nesting.
9 BROWN THORNBILL
Acanthiza pusilla
Eastern and south-eastern Australia, Tasmania
This clever bird mimics the alarm calls of other birds to distract approaching predators (such as pied currawongs) and
give its young a chance to hide in shrubs. It has a cheeky disposition, and hops around the garden chatting to other brown thornbills with its frenzied, buzzing calls. Food It eats mainly insects, supplemented with seeds, nectar and fruit, and feeds in pairs or mixed flocks with other thornbills, mostly in the undergrowth.
Garden habitat Provide dense, prickly shrubs for it to hide in and build its domed nest, and native grasses for nest-building material. Allow mulch and old timber to support the bugs and insects it eats.
10 DOUBLE-BARRED FINCH
Stizoptera bichenovii Northern and eastern Australia
The facial markings of this tiny bird resemble the facial disc of the barn owl, hence it is often referred to as the owl finch. This sociable bird feeds in flocks of up to 40, and sleeps with up to five other birds crammed into a domed roost built in dense shrubbery.
Food Seeds taken while hopping around on the ground are supplemented with the occasional insect.
Garden habitat Plant native grasses for food, and dense shrubbery for this bird to nest and hide in. Never going far from water, it drinks frequently and will come to your birdbath if there is the protection of thick shrubbery close by. You may also see it nesting in the eaves of a building, often next to a wasp nest for added security.