I'm moving from Brisbane to Melbourne. I've just come back from visiting Melbourne and am pretty disappointed at how little native vegetation there is planted around the city and how few native birds I saw...at least compared to Brisbane where both are so common everywhere. Was my visit perhaps too short to take in the native plants and birds? Anyone have any tips for beginning to attract native birds to my garden (in the SE part of the city)? A bird bath? Planting nectar-producing plants? A bird feeder? I hope there's hope! Brisbane has been a birder's paradise! Thanks for your experience.
Sorry to say this. but how much time did you spend in Melbourne? We have great Parks and there are lots of birds everywhere, you must have looked in the wrong places. I have so many birds in my garden, as I sometimes say, I have to make sure I don't step on them. I didn't think I would feel like that, well, ..... not going to say anything.
M-L
That's awesome news, that there are birds everywhere! Just what I was hoping to hear. Indeed, I was only there a few days househunting so I didn't get to any parks or anything, just looking around the city. What do you do in your garden to attract the birds?
Hi Erica, as Aramita has said - there are plenty of birds in Melbourne - don't loose hope!
We have guidelines for gardeners that you can read in the Creating Places section of the website. Also look on your local council website for a list of locally native plants. If you let us know what region you are in, we can recommend some suitable ones for you :)
Cheers
Holly
Hi Erica. Could I suggest that you take a look at the nearest patch of natural vegetation to where you'll be living & try to identify the plant species there. Then replicate as many of those species as possible in your new garden, if you can. I say this because the native birds local to your area have adapted to the vegetation that's local to your area.
You might also want to consider planting native grasses that are local to your new area as they benefit not only seed eating birds but also native butterflies & other small native creatures.
The next step is to locate a native plant nursery or organisation which can provide the plants you're seeking. I'll need to leave you to your own devices on this is as I'm not very familiar with the Melbourne nursery scene.
I encourage you to consider the structure of your garden. E.g., wrens like open spaces with nearby thick stands of shrubs for safety & nesting. If you provide upper, middle & lower storey plants then you'll naturally increase the divesity of bird species you'll attract.
Planting lots of hybrid, large-flowering grevilleas that are very popular with native gardeners will certainly provide nectar for birds but they tend to attract the larger honeyeaters such as red wattlebirds & noisy miners, species which tend to dominate. You might want to look at the movie clip on the Birds in Backyards home page in this regard.
If you plant the species local to your area after the first good rain in autumn or winter you shouldn't have to spend much, if any, time watering them next summer. This is because those plants are adapted to the local climate. So not only will the local plants benefit the local birds they will also benefit your wallet.
Bird baths are always a good way of attracting birds. You might want to take a look at the recent threads on bird baths under General & Bird-friendly gardening for hints on bird baths. But I would avoid a bird feeder like the plague as they encourage bird disease & make birds dependent on human handouts. Besides, if your garden is as natural as possible then a bird feeder is unnecessary for the birds. I doubt that there were many bird feeders in Australia before white settlement yet the birds probably did OK.
Good luck with your move to the great city of Melbourne & have loads of fun with your new garden. Showing your neighbours what can be done will prove interesting. And don't forget to report back in 12 months!
thanks so much for all your ideas! I will check other posts and the "Creating Places" guidelines as well. But, immediately, I'm glad to hear a bird bath makes sense whereas a bird feeder is not a good strategy.