Kookaburras, currawongs, crows, butcher birds, magpies and pee wees (mudlarks)
The above bird species are common in Australian gardens. All humanize easily and can become dependent on handouts of food. Ultimately this causes problems for them and other birds.
All creatures need to eat a natural diet to be healthy. Unnatural food, provided by most humans, weakens birds. It fills them up, taking away their need to hunt for natural foods that maintain health. If birds pass human food onto their young, those young won’t thrive.
Birds that regularly indulge in human food suffer the same consequences as humans who eat a lot of junk food. But the poor birds don’t understand that human food will ultimately cause them health problems, especially if they’re fed two or three times a day.
Rarely if ever do suburban birds need handouts. Birds that beg for food are not starving; many are not even hungry; they’re just lazy and taking advantage of a free meal.
If you want to care for your local birds don’t feed them at all. Put out a bird bath, or a dish of water so they can drink and wash, but don’t feed them. If you insist on feeding them, it’s your responsibility to ensure they are given quality food, suitable for their species, and given very little of it, as a treat only.
Bread is not suitable food for any bird. Domestic pet food is even worse. Natural foods eaten by kookaburras, currawongs, crows, butcher birds, magpies and pee wees (magpie larks) includes … other birds, mice, lizards, worms, crickets and other insects.
Mice, meal worms and crickets can be purchased from pet suppliers. To be healthy, birds need the nutrients provided by the ‘whole of the creature’, in other words the skin, the wings, the flesh, the bones and the innards.
Inferior but acceptable alternatives are …
1) The above species can be given a small amount of muscle meat like ‘top quality’ beef mince, lamb or steak (never sausage, lunch meats or dog/cat food), as a treat only. However, the meat has to be fortified because muscle meats lack minerals which are absolutely essential for a bird’s wellbeing. If the meat is not fortified, birds can and will develop physical problems including metabolic bone disease (similar to osteoporosis in humans). Quite quickly they can suffer from a weak beak and bones, and in time, they can die.
The most natural way to fortify muscle meat is by adding some offal. That means liver, kidneys, heart or brains, all of which are very rich in minerals. It doesn’t take much offal to do the trick. A mixture of 80% muscle meat and 20% offal is about right. This might sound fiddly, but if you care about your local birds, it’s a must. You can prepare a mixture of meat and offal in a ratio of 8 parts to 2 and freeze it in small bags containing about 4 days’ supply. Each bag can be defrosted as needed. Offal must not be given as the sole food because it is so rich in minerals it will quickly calcify a bird’s joints.
2) Alternatively, Insectivore (or a similar supplement) can be purchased from your local pet supplier. Insectivore is ‘powdered insects’ and is a useful nutritional supplement for birds, but nowhere near as effective as fresh offal. However, Insectivore can be added to muscle meats, like top quality mince, to fortify it. Be sure to follow the directions on the packet and add just the right amount. Too little won’t do much good; too much and the taste might be too strong for the bird.
Other quality foods include meal worms and crickets (both available from pet suppliers), and garden worms. A variety of foods is what it takes to keep birds healthy.
Pls don’t feed more than once per day, and only offer a snack. Any more and you will rob the birds of the need to forage and gather their own natural, health-giving foods.
If you feed birds often, then go away, they can starve.
Please do not feed ibis. This only increases their numbers and results in nest destruction or culling by the Council. Crows, and especially currawongs, predate on small birds. If you feed those large species, they will proliferate. Small birds really struggle in urbane environments because of a lack of large shrubs with dense foliage in which they can escape bigger birds and nest safely. The last thing small birds need is more crows and currawongs. A dominance of predatory birds unbalances the whole ‘circle of life’.