Yellow-tailed Black-faced Black-Cockatoo Cuckoo-shrike length 60 cm length 33 cm

Grey Butcherbird Blue-faced length 30 cm Honeyeater length 28 cm length 29 cm

Pied Butcherbird length 35 cm Noisy Friarbird Pied Currawong Laughing Kookaburra length 30 cm length 45 cm length 45 cm Pale-headed Rosella length 31 cm Eastern Yellow Robin length 15 cm

Common (Indian) Myna Spangled length 21 cm Rainbow Lorikeet Welcome Swallow length 30 cm Noisy Miner length 20 cm (Introduced Species) length 30 cm length 15 cm length 25 cm

OF THE SUNSHINEUNUNSHINENSNSHSHININENE COCOAOASAST

White-throated White-cheeked Lewin’s Honeyeater Scarlet Honeyeater Brown Honeyeater Honeyeater Honeyeater length 21 cm length 10 cm length 14 cm length 14 cm length 18 cm

Australian Magpie length 40 cm

Magpie-lark Australian Crested Pigeon (Pee-wee) Brush-turkey length 32 cm length 25 cm length 70 cm

For inquiries about and domestic gardens, contact: BIRDS IN BACKYARDS www.birdsinbackyards.net t (02) 9647 1875 BIRDLIFE AUSTRALIA www.birdlife.org.au t 1300 730 075 AUSTRALIA

Printed on recycled Australianpaper. made paper - Revive Silk Birds in Your Garden How to bring back the little ones… Providing water: Australia-wide, populations of many of our small Birds need fresh water but they are vulnerable when species are declining. Once common birds such as they are drinking or bathing and need to feel safe. finches, fairy-wrens, silvereyes and small honeyeaters, We should: are becoming rare or, in some places are no longer đƫ place birdbaths beyond the reach of cats, and in being seen at all. There are many reasons for this, dappled shade. but the biggest is the loss of places for them to live đƫ grow plants close to birdbaths so birds can perch (habitat) and successfully raise their families. and observe the area first. đƫ replace the water and clean the water container This situation exists in both rural farmlands and regularly. in built up urban areas; from big cities to rural đƫ ask a neighbour to add water when we’re away, townships. That means that we can all contribute so the birds don’t lose their water supply. towards saving our small birds irrespective of where we live or how big our gardens are. We just need to Provision of supplementary food: do things a little di erently. It is much healthier for birds to glean natural food Small changes for a big di erence . . . from our gardens than to be fed directly by people. However, many people really enjoy the contact they Garden design and structure: have with birds that they provide food for. If you Simple open gardens provide little shelter or food for want to provide extra food for birds make sure that: birds. We need to plant: đƫ the feeding area is kept really clean. đƫ dense shrubs close together so they form đƫ you don’t feed meat-eating birds – encourage the protective thickets. small birds that are declining, not their predators. đƫ shrubs that provide a range of foods: nectar, đƫ only provide good quality natural foods, e.g. seeds, fruit and habitat for insects. finch seed rather than bread. đƫ local plants that provide what the birds in our local areas need. Be a responsible pet owner: đƫ below trees, creating a dense protective Keep your cat inside or within an outside enclosure. understory. This is safer for the cat as well as other wildlife đƫ less grass for mowing, but rather use native đƫ De-sexing prevents unwanted kittens. grasses that can seed and only need cutting đƫ Deter other cats from entering your yard by occasionally. spraying them with water. We should: To find our more about the birds in your area, creating đƫ avoid using chemical sprays or applying chemical gardens and habitat for birds at home, in school fertilizers. grounds or any open spaces, or undertaking bird đƫ use lawn clippings and leaf litter on garden beds surveys in your own garden or local area, see the as mulch. Birds in Backyards website www.birdsinbackyards.net

Photographers: Bob Ravich (Eastern Yellow Robin), Wojciech Dabrowka and Kevin Vang/Bird Explorers (Australian Brush-turkey, Brown Honeyeater, White-cheeked Honeyeater, Grey Butcherbird, Pied Butcherbird, Laughing Kookaburra, Black-faced Cuckoo-shrike), Richard Major/Australian Museum (Magpie-lark, Australian Magpie, Noisy Miner, Willie Wagtail, Common Myna, Rainbow Lorikeet, Noisy Friarbird, Pied Currawong), Greg Gowing/Australian Museum (Yellow-tailed Black-Cockatoo), Ed Pierce (Welcome Swallow, Pale- headed Rosella, Australasian Figbird), Tom Oliver (Lewin’s Honeyeater, Spangled Drongo, White-throated Honeyeater), Ákos Lumnitzer (Scarlet Honeyeater), Kimberley Prior (Crested Pigeon), Nolan Caldwell (Blue-faced Honeyeater)

BirdLife Australia Suite 2–05, 60 Leicester Street, Carlton VIC 3053 T 03 9347 0757 | [email protected] ABN 75 149 124 774

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