I think the bottom line is that bamboo is an invasive weed that has
virtually no ecological benefits in Australia. It can be quite
difficult to get rid of if it gets away.
Regards, Laurie.
On 03/05/2013, at 5:56 PM, Philip Veerman wrote:
It depends what is the intended use. What Chris King wrote does not
indicate
that the developer has any intention that the plantings be of value to
birds, so I would prefer to address that question first. Otherwise
what is
the point?
I hope I am not generalising too much here: Bamboo are species of
grass and
thus they are flowering plants, so it has flowers, but as grass is
wind
pollinated, the flowers are small. I think the point from Christine
Melrose
is that the flowers don't have nectar, so that honeyeaters won't use
them. I
don't know about all bamboo but many large grasses produce large
seed heads
that many birds such as House Sparrows like to use as nest lining
(Pampas
grass in particular though I don't know if that is a bamboo -
probably not).
As far birds go, bamboo, once it is big enough is a good overnight
roosting
site for communal species such as House Sparrows, Common Mynas and
Common
Starlings. That is not a good bird option and you can well suggest
that as a
deterrent, that it will very likely attract noisy and dirty
activities of
birds that most people don't want (dusk noise, lots of poops).
I can't think of any benefit that bamboo would bring to the area in
terms of
helping with native birds. But is that the intent of the developer?
There
are many other considerations. A food source for pandas in case
Taronga zoo
ever gets them again?
Philip
-----Original Message-----From: birding-aus-
On Behalf Of Chris
Melrose
Sent: Friday, 3 May 2013 3:16 PM To: Chris King Cc: Birding Aus
Subject: Re: [Birding-Aus] Is bamboo bird habitat? - inner Sydney
Hi Chris
I'm an old bush regenerator and know that bamboo provides a habitat
for
nothing because it doesn't flower- it's in the grass family.
Running bamboo
is a terrible weed and if that's what they were going to plant it
would be
out of the pot before you could blink an eye.
Go for bottlebruhes, tea tree and wattle. Honeyeaters love the
bottlebruhes
and you may be lucky enough to get some rosellas or king parrots in
after
the wattle seed. They will take about 3 years to mature but well
worth it.
Cheers
Chris
Christine Melrose
0407705140
On 03/05/2013, at 14:37, Chris King <> wrote:
A new development is nearing completion over the road from me. The
developer was talking to me about what they will plant in large
planter boxes at the back of the row of new houses. These will be on
concrete and he needs plants to screen the back fence, but not too
bushy. He wants to plant bamboo but I have never seen any birds use
bamboo. Birds in Backyards says the Australian reed-warbler uses
bamboo thickets but there is no water or reed warblers around here
(apart from the former creek which is now in a concrete drain).
I am next to the proposed Greenway, so we have some planted bush we
would like the development to connect with. Its been suggested to me
that wattles to provide quick coverage planted together with a local
leptospermum would be a good solution, but I would like some
confirmation that bamboo would not provide habitat.
Thanks,
Chris
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