I have taken the liberty of moving this post over here. I think it will have a better chance of getting reponses.
Good luck Jennifer.
Whistling kite family- to feed or not to feed? Hello, I have a family of Whistling Kites recently moved in to a large Tuart on our property. Problem is we have Eclectus parrots who are our spoilt companions as well as a bantam rooster (who thinks he is one of our dogs) and a 1 winged pink & grey called Maverick! They all live outside in large cages on the verandah (except the rooster who has the run of the property). I am worried the Kites will try to kill the caged birds or rooster! The youngest kite has been hanging around the house and is very curious about everything. Comes in to house area most mornings and scares the kids regularly throughout the day by coming in for a closer look, never too close though (which I must say I have a great laugh at the kids expense with all the screaming and carrying on). I was thinking maybe I should feed the Kites chunks of meat away from the house area, in the hope they never see our birds like a hot roasting chook on a spit! I am not sure this is the right way to go about it. They are beautifully majestic birds and I would never hurt them or want to scare them. I am hoping there is a way we can all work together. Your advice would be greatly appreciated. Cheers Jennifer .
Top Bookmark this Quote reply . . Fri, 25/01/2013 - 14:43 (new) #2. qyn55
Despite my views that we don't feed wild birds at all and certainly not an unbalanced diet - chunks of meat are not a balanced diet - I would not recommend feeding this time because you do not want to associate your property as any kind of food source for the birds of prey. As you can imagine, when the supermarket (you) runs out of (or cannot provide due to other commitments) one type of foods (meat chunks) the other food (your animals) will be a more than reasonable and probably better alternative. BOP eyes are well developed and they see all of your property so if you did feed in another area this in no way means they will have forgotten the location of your birds - that is well printed on their food list already. If you can provide an area where your animals can get under cover (at least partially roof and cover two sides of the cages or lower blinds from the verandah) so they are not visible to the BOP (most prey birds instinctively seek that shelter when a BOP is present) they may survive any raids. Does the rooster also have a shelter? If not, I would be providing him with one. You may find your birds reaction amusing but the stress caused can, by itself, cause the death of your animals and many will beat themselves to death on the sides of the cage as they try to escape a BOP when they cannot. I hope you are able to come to a satisfactory solution with out losing any of your animals. Someone may move this thread to a different location as this area is more for forum announcements Alison ~~~~~~ "the
I think it is the reactions of her kids that Jennifer finds amusing, not her birds. Is this not so? Perhaps some shadecloth over the cages would lessen the danger.
From the original thread, Jennifer has added that the outdoor area is being enclosed because of mozzies which will also keep the birds safer. I also apologised for how unfriendly my post sounded which was not my intent! Night Parrot, you are most likely right about the kids being children whereas I read it as the pet birds being called kids.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Hi Jennifer. I think Alison has made some excellent suggestions & I support her contention about artificial feeding of native birds.
It's always a conundrum when humans & wildlife interact & so often it's the wildlife that loses. In your case you've sought solutions to your problem that will benefit you & yours as well as the whistling kites. Regrettably, many others would say that the whistling kite would have to go. Now, if we can get the majority of Australians to adopt your approach our environment might stand a chance.