Wattlebird eating crap

Several times I've seen red wattlebirds doing this with squashed food.

Oh, narly! Shame on you! Haven't you been paying attention to all the threads, posts, discussion, exploration, investigation about the whys & wherefors of artificially feeding native birds? Tell me that the food is to fertilize the lawn!

Good shots of the wattle bird, I have some in my garden and they rule the place.

Hi Nightowl. That's one argument in support of artificially feeding birds, I guess. I have two problems with it, however. One is that adapting to changing conditions usually takes millions of years if I understand evolution & natural selection correctly. In Australia, we've vastly altered conditions for wildlife in the space of just over 200 years which is hardly time for adaptation to occur. The second is that artificial feeding of wildlife takes away whatever responsibility people might have for restoring natural habitats so that birds get their natural diet.

I'm also wary of sayings like "birds like a change of diet". That sort of statement, I believe, comes from a human perspective rather than a bird perspective. Birds may well enjoy the cullinary delights of a dessicated finger bun or the taste sensation of a flattened Four & Twenty pie but that doesn't mean it's of benefit to them. According to lots of posts on Birds in Backyards & what I've witnessed in one part of the Adelaide Hills artificial feeding of birds can cause big problems with bird health. The same applies to humans. There's much evidence to suggest that our own relatively rapid change of diet has led to a corpulent society with a goodly compliment of diabetes & heart problems.  

What do you think?

All I'm going to say is it's all Off Topic & nothing to do with M-L's pics

You make a good point about the bird bath being a human intervention for birds, Nightowl. And also about profusely flowering Grevilleas upsetting the birdlife composition of an area.

From what I can see there are many human interventions (e.g., vandalism of forests & woodlands) which have been of total disadvantage to many bird species (e.g, fairy-wrens & thornbills) but of advantage to others (e.g., Richard's pipits & bushlarks). There are also a number of human interventions which at least partly compensate for environment-changing human actions. E.g., in my area bird baths may well compensate for the loss of rock pools in water courses because landowners have built dams which prevent natural replenishment of the rock pools. Another example would be the sewage ponds which are part compensation for the destruction of wetlands for ports & housing estates. However, it's highly unlikely that humans can fully compensate for the myriad environmental factors that are destroyed when we intervene in the environment. E.g., all the algae & tiny aquatic creatures that die when the above rock pools aren't naturally replenished. This makes for a strong argument for making our foot print as small as possible, especially these days when we know that biodiversity is threatened in so many parts of Earth. In fact, I'd go so far as to say that unless we cease our human-centric approach to Earth we endanger the survival of our species, Homo sapiens, although this idea is anathema to most people I would think.

What we can do is be alert to how we can avoid impacting on existing wildlife or, at the very least, minimise our impact. Artificial feeding of birds is one example. It takes less time &  money to plant a couple of indigenous plants in the garden than it does to put up a bird feeder & fill it with Home Brand bird seed but the result for the birds is likely to be far superior if the former strategy is used. Taking home human food scraps from the bush rather than feeding them to the birds is another.

Sadly, humans are humungously hubristic. We see ourselves as far superior to any other species rather than seeing ourselves as part of an amazing ecology. Therefore, when we feed crap to birds we're either saying that our food is best for them or we can't be bothered taking the food scraps home or that the birds are there for our entertainment. Personally, I have real problems with those stances.

Hi Woko 

Just for the record I don't put out seed or food scraps for birds anyway.

I was reading some old posts and  just wanted to stir the pot and see if I could flush out any Noisy Minors, they always fly in and check out any disturbance in their area and usually mob the intruder .

 And thanks narly for the back up , I was only supporting you!

Anyway  Woko, an old book that i think is a good read "The New Nature" Winners and Losers in Wild Australia byTim Low   
 
By reading your posts sounds like you read  a lot on the ecosystem .

Thanks for the reminder about the book by Tim Low, Nightowl. I was aware of it & I've put it on my to buy list.

Yes, I've done some reading on ecology & I've made a lot of observations, too. Of course, we all see the world through our own eyes & values so I'm sure there are plenty of posters who wouldn't share my views. I'm all for respectful discussion & debate about the issues.

Araminta, I share your dismay at the red wattlebird in the role of scavenger of cast off human food. The other thing I resent is that the wattlebird got to it before I did.

Sometimes necessity is the mother of intervention, Araminta.