Kookaburras
Magpies
Currawongs |
Meat
Mince
Bread |
- These foods can produce imbalances in their nutritional
requirements causing severe deficiencies
- You may encourage overpopulation of these species which is a
problem as they are predatory
- Can lose the ability to source food themselves
|
Insects
Invertebrates
Small reptiles
Small mammals
such as rodents |
- Leave leaf litter in your garden as
it will attract insects, vertebrates
and lizards
- Leave safe dead trees and
hollowed limbs of live trees
- Plant native trees
- Call WIRES if you find sick or
injured animals
|
Rosella
Cockatoos
Galah’s |
Bread
Fruit
Food scraps
Seed mixes |
- Bread has poor nutritional balance
- Introduced fruit is not natural part of their diet
- Seed mixes are rarely nutritionally balanced and many are difficult
to eat
- Encourages a population that would normally be nomadic to
become sedentary , thus not balancing their diet
|
Native grasses and
seeds
Large variety of
insects and their
lave
Hardened fruits
like gumnuts |
- Leave safe dead trees and
hollowed limbs of live trees – the
hollows provide nesting sites
- Provide a balance of vegetation in
your garden by avoiding hybrid
native plants
- Provide water in varying depths
with protection from
neighbourhood cats
|
Lorikeets
Honeyeaters |
Sugar and
water
Honey and
water bread
Non-native
fruits seed
mixes |
- The digestive system of these birds is designed for a predominately
liquid intake. Bread seed mixes and fruit quickly fill the bird and
slow the digestion process leading to vitamin and mineral
deficiencies predisposing the birds to disease through bacterial and
yeast infections
- Diseases such as beak and feather diseases are easily spread through
communal feeding trays
- With a regular food supply, nomadic birds will breed out of season
thus becoming sedentary , creating localised over population
leading to further disease
- Causes competition for insects and nesting sites harms smaller
species
|
Nectar and pollen
from eucalypt and
other native
flowers
Native berries and
blossoms insects
and their larvae |
- Provide a balance of vegetation in
your garden by avoiding hybrid
native plants
- Provide water in varying depths
with protection from neighbours
cats by planting of varying heights
around the water source
- Leave ‘safe’ dead trees and
hollowed limbs of live trees – the
hollows providing nesting sites
|
Ducks
|
Bread
Chips
Vegetables
Scraps
Leftovers |
- These foods do not provide the correct nutritional balance causing
deficiencies and predisposing them to disease
- Bread can ferment in the gut causing bacterial infections
- Food settles on the bottom of ponds and rots causing levels of
bacteria to rise and can cause things such as botulism which can kill
ducks
|
Plants growing
along the waters
edge , as well as in
the water shrimps
and mussels small
aquatic animals
and insects |
- Contact your environment centre
or council to clean up and
regenerate the local pond, lake or
lagoon
- Record your observations on the
conditions of your local ducks,
their environment and any
changes this may be useful to your
environment centre.
- Call WIRES if you find a sick or
injured duck
|
Kangaroos |
Bread
Left overs
Milk |
- Kangaroos are designed to eat large amounts of low protein
roughage such as native grasses and browse. Human food is a poor
substitute with little nutritional value and will disrupt their natural
intake.
- If fed milk, the gut becomes aggravated causing diarrhoea and
dehydration which can result in death
- Bread is a soft food and if eaten regularly it can result in gum
problems. Once this occurs, it only takes a hardened grain or twig to
puncture the gum allowing the disease ‘lumpy jaw’ to infect the
gum area.
|
Grasses
Smaller
macropods such as
wallabies also eat
fungus and insects |
- Call WIRES if you find a sick
injured or orphaned animal
|
Possums |
Bread
Fruit
Food scraps
Milk ( soy,
cow, goat) |
- Fruits are not digested easily by ringtail possums, it ferments in the
gut and produces vast quantities of gas – death is usually the end
result.
- If fed milk, it aggravates their digestive system causing diarrhoea
and dehydration which can result in death.
- Introducing a new food source ultimately reduces the possum’s
territories creating over population of areas, predisposing them to
disease.
|
Bark, grass and
leaves, eucalypt
trees being the
favourite for both
the leaves and
flowers
Native fruit and
small insects |
- Provide a balance of vegetation in
your garden, avoid hybrid native
plants
- If possible keep your compost
heap enclosed to prevent possums
from scavenging and using this as
their only source of food. It also
discourages rodents.
|