Tree Ferns

[Merrilyn Serong <>]

Hi all
Sori, spores and frond pith from tree ferns are included in a list of dietary
items of the Crimson Rosella in a paper by
Magrath and Lill (1983) entitled The use of time and energy by the CR in
a temperate wet forest in winter. Australian Journal of Zoology 31: 903-12.
Cheers, 
Merrilyn

Brian Fleming wrote:
> iandowling wrote:
> > Hi out there in birdland
> > Our Tree Ferns are being destroyed by Crimson Rosellas. They nibble
> > the fronds and take them right off - my wife is about to divorce me if
> > it doesn't stop. They have always chewed a bit but this year they have
> > gone mad and the ferns are a mess. What nourishment do they get out of
> > the ferns. I've always understood them to be toxic. They only seem to
> > tackle the mature fronds. Any ideas.
> > Ian D
> >   
> Hullo Ian,
> Your Rosellas may not actually be seeking food but nest-holes.
>
> When the Great Flight Aviary in the Melbourne Zoo was first opened, it
> had a lot of Tree-ferns. They lost the lot - because all the parrot
> species thought they were ideal as nest-sites. The birds burrowed down
> from the centre of the top, effectively destroying the growth centre of
> the fern. (They had been provided with hollow branches and nestboxes,
> but it didn't distract them from the fun of doing their own gnawing).
>
> I think you will have to invent a parrot-baffle from strong bird-wire to
> protect your tree-ferns and your marriage. Perhaps some means of
> alarming them when they settle on the ferns should also be thought of.
> They can be very persistent.
>
> Of course they could just enjoy chewing the fronds. Parrots and
> cockatoos often seem to enjoy chewing up stuff with no food value - such
> as cedarwood house fittings. Beak exercise?
>
> I don't think Tree-ferns are poisonous. I believe both Australian blacks
> and N.Z. Maoris used to eat the inner pith on occasion.
>
> Anthea Fleming
> in Ivanhoe
>
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