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I read with interest the item about the retired man
at Sawtell who feeds the birds and has an interesting array of birds in his
extended yard. I would suggest that even in the absence of feeding he
would have a good diversity of birds due to the rich habitats within his local
area. I have documented the number of vertebrate species (birds, mammals,
reptiles and amphibians) that inhabit or have visited our yard in the village of
Coutts Crossing, near Grafton, NSW. Up to the year 2000 we had 132 species
recorded, including Spangled Drongo, Rufous Fantail, Nankeen Night Heron,
Buff-banded Rail, Pacific Baza, Square-tailed Kite, Musk Lorikeet, Little
Bronze-Cuckoo, Satin Bowerbird, Wonga Pigeon, Grey Goshawk, Cicadabird, Brush
Cuckoo, Budgerigar etc, etc. - all without artificially feeding the
birds. We feed the birds by providing the local native plants. If
anyone wants more details I have published the results in a paper title
'Vertebrate fauna and its management on an urban block in northern New South
Wales' in 'A Zoological Revolution. Using native fauna to assist in its
own survival.' Edited by Daniel Lunney and Chris Dickman, 2002.
Royal Zoological Society of New South Wales, Mosman 2088 and Australian Museum.
Regards
Greg
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