Birds in Backyards

Birds under threat

Male Superb Parrot
Photo: K Vang and W Dabrowka © Bird Explorers

Loss of habitat is the greatest threat to birds. © Australian Museum

Loss of habitat is the greatest threat to birds.
Photo: R. Major © Australian Museum

The majority of Australia's temperate woodlands have been cleared for agriculture. © Australian Museum

The majority of Australia's temperate woodlands have been cleared for agriculture.
Photo: R. Major © Australian Museum

Many threatened bird species are dependent on tree-hollows for nesting. © Australian Museum

Many threatened bird species are dependent on tree-hollows for nesting.
Photo: R. Major © Australian Museum

"Backyard" in an intensively-cleared landscape.
Photo: R. Major © Australian Museum

Fact sheet list

The following factsheets are for a representative selection of species from the threatened species schedules.

Status of Australia's birds

Threatened species are listed under both national and state-based legislation. At present, only the federal and New South Wales state conservation status are shown on the factsheets on this site, with Secure meaning that the species is not currently listed.

Birds Australia publishes annual reports on the State of Australia's Birds, based on massive data sets. In 2000, Birds Australia and Environment Australia Natural Heritage Trust assessed the status of all 1200 bird species occurring in Australia and its territories according to IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) criteria. This assessment resulted in the Action Plan for Australian Birds, 2000, written by Dr Stephen Garnett and Dr Gabriel Crowley, covering all the threatened species.

In summary, as at 30th June, 2000:

25 species are extinct,
32 were Critically Endangered,
41 were Endangered,
82 were Vulnerable
81 were Near Threatened.

This means that 20% of Australia's birds are threatened, compared with the world percentage of 12% at the same time.

Birds as environmental indicators

Several animals or species can act as indicators of environmental health. Since a fully diverse ecology is needed to support a healthy number and range of species, a lower than expected number or range of species in an environment clearly indicates a lower ecological diversity. Birds are particularly good as environmental indicators because they:

live in almost every type of environment in Australia and in almost every niche (place or role) within those environments.
are at the top of the food-chain and are therefore vulnerable to accumulating chemicals
have representatives that depend on the full range of animal diets
are easy to see and observe
are already relatively well-known, providing a good baseline against which change can easily be monitored.

In Australia the status of birds is used in environmental reports such as the State of the Environment, a report published every five years by the Department of Environment and Heritage. Much of the information used in these reports is gathered by the Birds Australia Atlas of Australian Birds, one of the largest wildlife databases in the world

The United Kingdom has a strong example of how highly regarded birds are as indicator species: the government uses the status of birds as one of 14 base-line Sustainability Indicators, along with their GDP. It is known as The Population of Wild Birds Quality of Life Indicator.

The urban wildlife problem in Australia

Australia is one of the most urbanised countries in the world with an estimated 85 % of the population living in urban areas, most of which are within 50 kilometres of the east coast. When a new area is urbanised it almost always begins with the total clearing of the native vegetation and replacement with streets and buildings. Once these ecosystems are destroyed by clearing, they cannot be replaced. No amount of planting, however carefully done, will be able to reproduce the complex inter-related systems that they are composed of.

Areas of biological importance are being lost

Many of the areas that are popular for urban expansion are also of significant biological importance, containing a high proportion of Australia's wildlife. Ongoing land-clearing for urban development in these areas is leading to a significant loss of this biodiversity. Perhaps the best example of this is the 'biological hot-spot' that exists around the Brisbane area. In New South Wales, the Central Coast and new suburban developments in western Sydney are also examples of important biological areas being lost to urban expansion.

Why is this important?

Maintaining biodiversity is an essential element of sustainability for our own welfare and that of native plants and animals.

Why are small birds declining in cities?

Several factors are involved in the loss of small birds from cities. The two most significant factors are:

Small birds are always vulnerable to predation from larger species. This happens most during the breeding season because eggs and nestlings are unable to escape. Several species of large bird - notably the Pied Currawong - have become more common in cities. They are voracious nest predators and it is likely that Pied Currawongs have an impact on the small birds by limiting their ability to reproduce. Other predatory species, like ravens, butcherbirds and kookaburras, also seem to do well in cities, making life even more dangerous for small birds. One reason that the larger birds do well in cities is that they are more likely to benefit from human-created foods (petfood, garbage, foodscraps and carrion) than small birds, which mostly eat insects.
Small birds generally can't compete with larger birds for resources. In particular, the Noisy Miner, a common inhabitant of eastern Australian cities, excludes small insectivores (insect-feeders) and nectarivores (nectar-feeders) from its territories. Noisy Miners have become more abundant and widespread in many Australian environments, and are strongly implicated in the loss of small birds from cities.

What can we do?

There are a number of things that can be done to reduce these losses in urban areas:

Large areas of land should be left intact when planning new urban areas.
Parks and open spaces should be planned for birds and other wildlife as well as people.
Wildlife corridors should be included in urban planning; for both new developments and old. Gardens can form a part of wildlife corridors.
Individual gardens should be planted and managed for birds and other wildlife.

Whose responsibility is it?

We all have a responsibility to ensure biodiversity is maintained. All levels of government have responsibilities to legislate for this purpose. In New South Wales, Local Government Authorities (LGAs) are responsible for ensuring the maintenance and expansion of local biodiversity and must report back to the State Government regularly. But they can't achieve this without the help of their communities - which means all of us.

We need to become actively involved by:

Making the maintenance of a healthy natural environment one of our agenda priorities when we vote for all levels of government.
Working with our Local Government authorities, demanding and supporting their initiatives towards sustainability and the maintenance of biodiversity.
Becoming active in our communities; talking to our neighbours about the need to take control of and improve our environments, encouraging participation.
Planning, planting and maintaining our gardens for birds and other wildlife.
Addressing climate change by changing our daily habits.
Becoming a member of Birds Australia.