A trend towards buying houses on smaller properties with highly manicured gardens is making it harder for our feathered friends to find the unkempt areas they love.
“The best feeding programme for birds is to plant what’s on nature’s menu,” says Martin Taylor from Birdlife South Africa.
“Indigenous trees and plants are familiar and accepted as food sources, shelter, and nest sites by indigenous birdlife.”
Here are some great garden ideas on how to create a natural smorgasbord of fruits, seeds, insects and nectar that will have your garden buzzing with amazing bird life.
Bird-friendly indigenous trees:
Since trees provide a framework for the rest of the plants in your garden, they need to be carefully selected and placed. Consider the size of your garden and whether you want it to be shady or more open.
Antidesma venosum (tassel-berry): Small tree, decorative cream flowers, profuse berries on female.
Apodytes dimidiata (witpeer): Neat tree, shiny leaves, cream scented flowers, red and black fruit.
Celtis Africana (white stinkwood): A beautiful large deciduous tree with silvery stems.
Ficus sur Broom (cluster fig): Fast-growing large tree with beautiful new leaves.
Olea African (wild olive): Small-medium neat tree needing sun, edible fruit.
Trema orientalis (pigeonwood): Very fast-growing small-medium tree with light crown.
Bird-friendly indigenous plants:
* Nectar feeders – sunbirds:
Leonotis leonurus (wild dagga), recommended for cold areas.
Aloe species, erica species, kniphofia (red hot poker), Tecomaria capensis (Cape honeysuckle). (Recommended for warm areas).
* Seed eaters – doves, manikins and weavers: Setaria megaphylla (broad-leaved bristle grass): This ribbon grass is a tall, robust, moist and shade loving. Weavers also use the leaves to build their nests.
Blue commelina: Seed-eating birds feed on the fine kernels that the perennial commelina sheds. The succulent leaves and stems allow this plant to survive in fairly dry conditions.
Seed-eating birds are attracted to the seed heads of grasses and grains. They also thrive on the seeds of ordinary daisies (such as the euryops daisy). Leave the dried-out dead heads of daisies for as long as you can to give the birds time to take most of the seed at the end of summer.
In a very large garden, the solution is to leave an outer portion to revert to weeds or veld grasses, which should be cut once a year and allowed to regenerate.
* Insect eaters – robins, orioles, bush shrikes, thrushes, drongos and woodpeckers: Geranium species, Plumbago auriculata (Cape leadwort), Buddleja species.
Indigenous plants have evolved over a long period with the insects with which they coexist, so they support far more than an alien plant, which has had no time to adjust to local conditions. Indeed, some alien plants support no insects at all. Termites emerging after rain are enjoyed by most birds. Preserve any termite mounds, which are in the garden.
* Fruit eaters – loeries, bulbuls: Asparagus falcatus (sickle-leaved asparagus) – thorny climber, attractive leaves, scented cream flowers and berries.
Diospyros simii (climbing star-apple) – robust climber, square stems, yellow flowers and edible fruit.
Rhoicissus tomentosa (common forest grape) – attractive-leaved climber with edible fruit, likes sun.
Chrysanthemoides monilifera (bush tickberry) – semi-succulent shrub, full sun, profuse yellow flowers. Good for beachfront and exposed areas.
Phoenix reclinata (wild date palm) – graceful multi-stemmed reclining spiny palm, grows in sun and shade.
Water is life: Birds do not only use water to drink, but also to clean themselves. Birdbaths should be large and shallow. Place in a quieter part of the garden preferably near thick foliage and established trees, so that the birds can perch nearby and not feel exposed. Keep the birdbath topped up over winter, as many birds will frequently visit to drink and bathe.
Use of Chemicals: Try to avoid using pesticides unless absolutely necessary. Poisoned insects make an easy meal and bird deaths are often caused by such toxic food. When choosing a chemical for a particular task reject all with low “LD50”, since these are the most dangerous to birds. Indigenous plants reduce the need for pesticide use, as they are generally resistant to local pests and disease. - The Mercury
* For more information on KZN birding contact Martin Taylor, Birdlife South Africa on 031 767 3339 or visit www.birdlife.org.za or www.birdingroutes.co.za