Urban Bird Feeding Study - Melbourne
Supplementary feeding of wild birds by the general public is extremely prevalent in Australia, as it is in the northern hemisphere. However, attitudes to this practice differ markedly in the two locations, with active promotion by conservation bodies in the USA and UK but unofficial discouragement in Australia. There are potential benefits from this practice for both the birds (e.g. enhanced overwinter survival, bolstering threatened populations) and the people providing the food (e.g. contact with nature, enhanced environmental awareness for city-dwellers). However, there are also potentially negative effects, such as the spread of disease, generating nutritional imbalances and dependency, fostering the welfare of exotic species and enhancing aggression. Currently it is difficult to work out how these potential benefits and costs balance out because there is a lack of reliable empirical data, particularly for Australia. One thing is certain, the motivation to feed wild birds is strong and people will not easily be discouraged from this practice. Therefore we need to conduct more research that will help us to weigh up the benefits and costs more realistically. Conceivably people could be educated to feed wild birds in a manner that results in an optimal trade-off between the positive and negative aspects of this behaviour.
Monash University Honours student Chanaka Ruwandenyia is going to be looking at the data already collected in the Backyard Birds surveys as well as conducting field work in gardens in Melbourne where birds are fed.
The aims of the present project are:
(1) to determine which bird species are attracted to urban feeding stations and in what proportions
(2) to ascertain what kind of inter-specific interactions occur at feeders and what are their consequences
(3) to determine whether and how feeders are dominated by particular individuals
(4) to establish if, and how readily, negative aspects of birds’ behaviour at feeders can be manipulated experimentally by varying food type and presentation
If you already feed birds, you live in Melbourne and are interested allowing Chanaka and his supervisors to access your garden for this research, please contact Chanaka via email: [email protected] or phone: 0432693455
More information can be downloaded in the pdf on the right.
