Bird Interactions

Feeding wild birds is not recommended and is discouraged for the following reasons:

• It can change bird behaviour: feeding birds can lead to unnatural behaviour, including encouraging dependency on humans for survival and, increased stress and aggression in birds.

• It can lead to displacement: some species of birds will benefit more than others. Often larger or more aggressive birds will begin to dominate over time and displace smaller birds from the area. 

• It can contribute to the spread of diseases and even bird death: depending on the feed provided, it can often lack the nutrients that birds require. This can cause malnutrition, sickness and deformities in birds and can contribute to birds becoming overweight. Bird feeders can concentrate where the birds are feeding, which can assist in the spread of disease like psittacine beak and feather disease among individuals.

• It can lead to interactions with pest species and pets: seeds and other bird food can attract pest species like mice, rats and Common Mynas to your backyard. Pets, in particular cats, will often hunt birds that are attracted to the bird feeder.

If you are wanting the pleasure of watching birds in your backyard, creating a bird friendly garden is a more appropriate method for doing so.

Image Credit - John Turnbill/ DPIE

A diverse garden provides living spaces for our native birds to shelter, nest and hide from predators, and provides a more sustainable solution to the impacts of introduced species such as the Common (Indian) Myna. To encourage native birds, try to maximise the diversity of plants and habitat features in your garden. You can do this by ensuring that you plant a variety of native groundcovers, shrubs and trees. Here are a couple of guides to get you started:

• Planting for Birds

• Attracting Birds to your Garden

• Create Buddy Habitats

Psittacine beak and feather disease (PBFD) is also known as psittacine circovirus (PCV) or Psittacine Circoviral Disease (PCD). This naturally occurring and widespread disease affects parrots, cockatoos and lorikeets, and has been confirmed in other bird species such as raptors. 

The disease is highly contagious and can be transmitted orally, via faeces and/or by contact with feathers. It can affect birds of all ages, but particularly juvenile and young adults. Most infected birds eventually die from the disease or secondary infections.

As the name suggests, the virus impacts the feathers and beaks of infected birds. Symptoms include:

• Missing feathers and feather deformities

• Feathers may also be darker or oily in appearance

• Deformed, miscoloured, cracked or curled beaks

July to December is nesting season for many of our native birds.  

During this time, some birds can become overprotective of their nests and young, and residents may be swooped.  

Some of the more well-known species that exhibit this behaviour are magpies, plovers and butcherbirds. 

Please remember; 

• Only a small percentage of parent birds will exhibit swooping behaviour.  

• The birds that do swoop, are only being protective parents.  

• Native birds are protected throughout New South Wales, and it is against the law to kill native birds, collect their eggs, or harm their young.  

Swooping

• Birds that swoop are protecting their young. The protective, swooping behaviour usually only lasts for about 6 weeks.  

• Magpies will only swoop within 50 - 100m radius from the nest. For cyclists the radius can be a bit wider (e.g. 150m away from the nest).  

• Unlike magpies and butcherbirds who lay their eggs in trees, plovers lay their eggs on the ground. As a result, they are very protective of their eggs and young and if people get too close, will swoop as a warning.

Precautions

There are a few precautions people can take during the breeding season: 

Magpies Swooping Brochure(PDF, 203KB)

Swooping Birds Plovers(PDF, 393KB)   

For more information visit the NSW Government’s website on the management of native birds that show aggression to people.

Reporting Swooping Birds:

Please contact Council on 4868 0888 if you observe a bird swooping people or pets on Council managed land (e.g. park or sports field). Please provide the type of bird, the location (e.g. park name or street address) and if you observed where the nest is.