Guidelines for bird habitat
School garden with multiple vegetation layersPhoto: Richard Major © Australian Museum
Revegetation of an industrial sitePhoto: Richard Major © Australian Museum
Front yard with dense understorey vegetationPhoto: Richard Major © Australian Museum
Related Documents
- Best Practice Guidelines for Enhancing Urban Bird Habitat
Review of scientific literature on habitat for birds in urban areas, including recommendations. (5.79MB pdf file) - Short version of Guidelines for Bushland Managers
Summary of the Best Practice Guidelines, tailored for Bushland Managers (180kb pdf file) - Short version of Guidelines for Councils and Planners
Summary of the Best Practice Guidelines, tailored for Councils and Planners (219kb pdf file) - Short version of Guidelines for Domestic Gardeners
Summary of the Best Practice Guidelines, tailored for Domestic Gardeners. (464kb pdf file) - Short version of Guidelines for Landscape Architects
Summary of the Best Practice Guidelines, tailored for Landscape Architects. (167kb pdf file) - Short version of Guidelines for Open Space Managers
Summary of the Best Practice Guidelines, tailored for Open Space Managers. (180kb pdf file) - Short version of Guidelines for Schools
Summary of the Best Practice Guidelines, tailored for Schools. (384kb pdf file) - Short version of Guidelines for Street Tree Planners
Summary of the Best Practice Guidelines, tailored for Street Tree Planners (163kb pdf file)
Documents marked with 
may only be available in PDF format. If you don't have Adobe Acrobat (or the reader), a FREE reader is available from Adobe.
This section synthesises the results of research on birds in built up areas to provide best-practice guidelines for development of bird habitat. The guidelines are relevant for any gardener wishing to create a refuge for birds in any area from domestic gardens in high-density urban landscapes to those of rural townships.
The Guidelines can be downloaded in seven formats to best suit the needs of different habitat managers. These are all based on a scientific review which is also available for those who seek more in-depth information.
Downloads:
- Guidelines for Domestic Gardeners
- Guidelines for Schools
- Guidelines for Bushland Managers
- Guidelines for Councils and Planners
- Guidelines for Landscape Architects
- Guidelines for Street Tree Planners
- Guidelines for Open Space Managers
- Full review of Scientific Literature (takes a minute or two - big file)
Relevance of human-dominated landscapes
As natural habitats continue to be cleared, water becomes more scarce, and animals are required to move in response to climate change, developing human domestic environments that are more suitable for wildlife becomes even more worthwhile. These are the areas where we have the resources to design and manage habitat to meet the specific needs of particular fauna. Accordingly, open spaces in built up areas, whether they are domestic gardens, nature-strips, parks or creek-side strips of bushland, have great potential to provide habitat for bird species that are currently in decline.