BIRDS AND NATIVE PLANTS STUDY GROUP Newslet te r No. 1 September 1983 +honks to Co\\een Werner Fs +he *h~ above drawing. Contents Page I, Introduction 2, Bird of the Newsletter- Eastern Spinebill 4, Artificial Feeding 5* Plant of the Newsletter- aE!sias 85 About Books- "Grow Nativev1 Movements' by- Bell Yiners 9. fiext Newsletter Fe7.r ?.!embers, . , , . With about 20 members we now have the nucleus of a group, I have ' i'oula ~enbers~letters most interesting ma enthusiasm encouraging, we are most .,.... , fortunate to have =tist8 amongst us, we even have our first newaletterl T!e general comment on the queation of wnether to restrict our obsertratiom to 'oirdn or to include other wildlife has favoured the inclusicc of all :.!ildlife, that is, mumais, reptiles and even the smaller residents,of ',ke . -- . gardeo such a.~cateqillers and lerps. Perhaps then "Wildlife and Native Plartsl' k~ouldbe a more suitable name for our group. A suggestion to look more fullg st .I .... ?... ::.::,:...... .. ioter~cticnssuch as shrike-tit - caterpiller - loose bark - eucalypt.1 Feel is - ....._,. -- -.:I,, ...- . good. Cement on whether to include non-native birds has been mixed, I feel %ey -i I I _ _ . :i 233 wortny of some mention for, if nothing else, they do.compete with native - 1 . .. ,.,. species for available resources. ,- Now that we are becoming established I feel we should develop me _ . ,. ..... long term aims for our group. An activity Chat I feel would be feaaible,.mnd. .' I :,-... ,. '. ' - .' worthxhile ,would be to put together a Native Plant wildlife........ catalogue. By... -2is . ......- . ....... * .. .....i.::, . I mean taking each native plaat- species individually and gathe.nn.8 together -. - --- -. infomation on the wildlife the plant supports or interacts with, and additidly . < I,-!<::.-:...,',' -. ' . .. -. the nature of the .interaci;ions, If we could develog such a catalogue we could . .. ........ .. ,' ky ..........then... draw from it further inTomation, combining knowledge of.c.dtivation ....:; .:. ! .. requirements with knowledge of wildlife interactions we should be able tq derive .... -. .' t? . , . '-'-;rigs such as lists of piants auitable for particular. areas grid situations. h ..I . a:-.: .:, : .' cornb!imtion with the wildlife they might attract. Eventually, I feel it voulz be .,- ,.-1 ..'i.. .C........ worthwhile to put auch information together in a form suitable for distribut5.m ., . ,- :. :,;;; ,~<,. - . -.. I to a -id.;r audkence than our own group. ,. ........ , -. ---...- .. - - At present I am keeping cards for each plant and noting down ~beern~ti~,~-of.. interactions, both ny own and those mentioned in members1 le.=tere. .......... .. If those interested keep their own cards and then annually we could put sU -,ie ' , ..:,,;:;, ,. , -.,.. icforztion together and publish it in conjunction with our newsletter.. &ch .....::: . ,. !- ; ....... :- ..hs=quent year we could then update our catalogue with all new observations ' zathered. Thus, in September next year, I shall put together our first crtkbgue. :I. .....-I . Another long tern aim I feel we could achieve would be to produce an' - ... - .. ,......: : ."... , . , .- audlovieual on native plant~and wilaife. A number of the other study @~ups .. have or currently are doing such thicgs. We nave a colourful area of study and it should not be difficult to put together something both interesting and informative . which could convey ideas crr" Sotn 'Ire-greeningt1and llre-wildlifingtl.' Any other suggestions of either long term or short term aims for our ' group are most welcome. astern Soioebill (~canthorhgnchuatenuirostris) The Eastern Spinebill (Es), one of the smaller members of the :hweyeater family, is characteri~edSg its long slender curved beak. It is a sexually dimorphic species, the male having a glossy black crown and the female a grey one. The bill of the female is also slightly shorter (about 23 mm for the female as opposed to abodt 26 mm for the male). 1n juveniles the heed is olive and underparts fawn; , . A staccato piping trill is often the first indication of the bird1s presence, being a verbose bird to say the least. The ES gives an impression of being a bird on the move, generally flitting about in rapid steps between flowering plants. It appears appreciative of a bird bath or shower in the hose in dry times, . - . Tfie ES1s main food is nectar, though, like other honeyeaters, it consumee insect8 to meet its protein requirements and feeds.insects, including.flies,,'rather than nectar .to its .young. Its long curved bill and extendable brush tongue allow it .. to reach nectar at the base of long tubular flowers, a food resource often . unavailable to the larger shorter-biiied honeyeaters. %e ability to explo%t such resouic& allows the ES to co-exist with larger more aggressive honeyeatera, such . as wattlebirds, wh'ich will chase it off the rich nectar sources such as-banksias. The honeyeaters co-exist by &rtitioning the available'resources, the ES -. to survive on the poorer nectar resowces. Whilst probing for nectar the ES's small size allows it to perch at the flower thowh occasionally it feeds whilst hovering. Probing ac tior& beneath 4. bark of tree8 mag be in search of honeydew from scale insects, Inaeet~are Ig'enerally taken by hawking. I The local abundance-of ESs seems to correlate with the abundance of nectar-producing flowers. In north-eastern N.S.W. (New &&md National Paxk) . -. the other side of the ridge, reappearing some time later in the bach.garden, Now, three years and seventy grevilleas later, he &?d his family spend all day in our -, . ... .. .* garden, oblivious of bird ~atckers~~.(from 3Iargare t '~omalin). !he bird's probing action whilst feeding at flowers makes it likely that it would play a role in pollination. It has Seen recorded as carrying the pollen of msia spp, , @acri6 sp., nistletoe (I4uellerina and Amyema spp. ) and Streptothamnu 6p. 111 species such as Iambertia formosa introduced bees will' take nectar from the flowers by drilling holes at the flower base. Such a feeding action .J does.not effect pollination aqd hence oo seed is set. Such a plant requires . honeyeaters such as the ES to compete successfully with the introduced bee to enwe its survival, ... :. The ES builds a cup-shaped nest of gram and libroru; plant Ate&. .., .'I., . which it lines with grass or hair. The nest is usually built into the fork of a ',,I_. .,. " . .. .:i . small tree and two to three eggs.are laid. -. - Plants in which the ES has been noted feeding include :- . Acacia falcifads, A. teminalis (flowers and leaf glands), Adenanthoe teminalia, - - . - . Albizia e,,Animzanthus flavfdus, & Wglee2i, Angophora costata, floribunda, intemifolfa, -B. marginata, B, ornata, & serrata, B. spinulosa, Brachy1om ericoides, CalUstemon macronmc tatus, Commereonia f raeeri , Correa backhouaiana., C. baeuerlenii ,. ... -. a -C. B&ttls Red, L plab&, C, maaii,' & Marion's Marvel, -C. Poorinda ~ailtasy,L . pulehs3la, -C. reflex., C, schlechtenddii , 9omhora sassaf ra?,' Jhal~pkus,@. omera* E. basistaana, E, cae~ia,E. edneideniana, & cosmophylla, & cmell&arw, E, elata, - - -E, faaeiculosa, E, globoideet , ", 'fera, -E, leuco~lon,E, odorata, -E, longifolia, -G. Boongala Spinebill, .G.- ~anterbukyGold, 5 Crosbie Morrison, lavandulicea, 1 . "i ' -0. mucronata, -G. Poorinda Beauty, 5 Poorinda Queen, S, Robyn Gordon, $&a ptiolaris '-,. Tarnbirtia Pomosa , Lyeiana exoe-i , Helateuca hypericif olia, ~uellerihcelestroidae , .-. .. I . - H, eucaLgpto$des, Pandoma -dorm, Phabalium wthersii, Pittosponun undulat~, . '. ,' Streptothamnue beckleri, Synoum phdulom, .Yanthorrhoea aemiplana. quite tame. It is possible to encourage them intd the garden with appropriate planting6 and their presence in the garden is ample reward for the effort. My article lacks information on nesting materials and sites. If anyone can supplg information abaut which plants provide the nesting materials and in which trees or shrubs nests are built, I would be grateful. Any additions to .the l&t of food plants would Lsd be welcome. Artifiaial Fesdiaq From Margaret Tomalin .... , . "The mynahs are encouraged by indiscriminate feeding and the local birds discou&ged. ,i by' the mynahs. Also, my sister in &gland tells me that a general warning ha8 been.. issued there not to feed bread to birds at breeding time because the lfwoolly" bread . that is made now (no crumbs) can cause the death of the fledglings if the parent birds feed it to them. It forms into a gummy lump in their crops. We seem to have' incr'eased 0.u honeyeater population by the planting.,of honey bearing native piants and .I fe'el that is better than providing bottles of &de-u~ stuff and so. on. Waker seems to be much appreciatad for. drinking and for bathing in the hot weather." From Norm Bone .... ttDuring the cold weather I use an artificial nectar which I make from water'and . raw sugar and the birds love it. They do their beet to .tell me when the supply ha6 run out and once I refill the small "coke" bottle$ they de~cendfrom every... tree .and . .-.. ,- shrub. ,A lot of pe ple are of the opinion that this method'of feeding ie not nata and that the birds become too dependent on it but-I do not find ' this to -be so. If I decide not to fill the bottles for a week or so they jut go back to getting nee'tar . ... from-the garden." From Val Maher- .... "At first I fnstalled two nectar feeders for honeyeatera but after two years I obeerued the small and-red watflebirds go first to the &evilleas and then to the .. - . ! feeders 6io ah discontinued the artificial feeding. At preeent I put out a small %. quantity of fbely cut cheese each morning. AB soon as I get up I open the back gl+iae door kdwhistle. The yellow robin flies into the kitchen and sits on 'the chopping board while I cut up the cheese. Three yellow robim and five kperb blue wrens breakfaet at the back door.