African Wildlife and Environment Issue 65

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

FAUNA, FLORA & WILDLIFE

Supplementary feeding of birds If this is not feasible, a bird feeding table can be placed in the garden. This should be out of the way in a quiet area and safe from predators. Food should be put out infrequently to avoid dependency on it, and limited in the amount one provides. Bird foods such as sunbird feeders, suet balls and seeds are commercially available. The birds will also appreciate fruit laid out for them. In winter if you can source bone meal from your local butcher, birds will flock to the table. There is a lot of debate about the drawbacks to supplementary feeding of birds. Research has shown that refined foods such as white or brown bread for grain eating birds, or too much sugary water for sunbirds has the same negative effects on them as junk food has on humans. Birds can become less resistant to their environment, more susceptible to disease, and very dependent on the plentiful food source that is provided. Many species breed in sync with their food source’s natural availability. If food is available all year round then they may breed outside of their natural season and babies are not able to deal with other environmental challenges

such as cold, rain or sudden lack of food if there is a halt in a human putting food out for their feathered friends. Adult birds lose their ability to teach their young to forage for natural food if they only source food from an artificial source of food. After food, probably the next most important feature is water, as this is essential to all life.

that eats it and disperses the seeds it contains. Very often the fruit bearing trees that are favoured by birds will pop up in one’s garden, per kind deposit of the birds that have unknowingly deposited them there with a little packet of fertiliser! Plants such as the following are favourites with frugivorous birds, and planting them will undoubtedly attract birds to your garden. It is important to remember that some plants bear male and female flowers on separate plants (dioecious), so only female plants will bear fruit. Most informed indigenous plant nurseries will mark their dioecious female plants so that they know that they will bear fruit. Trees: Celtis africana (White Stinkwood), Halleria lucida (Tree Fuschia), Sideroxylon inerme (Coastal Milkwood), Canthium gilfillanii (Rock Alder) Shrubs: Ehretia rigida (Puzzle Bush), Diospyros lycioides (Transvaal Blue Bush), Grewia occidentalis (Crossberry), Psychotria capensis (Bird Berry) Planting to attract insect eating birds Insectivorous birds (both exclusive and seasonal) must be the gardener’s best friends. They eat somany garden pests that they keep their numbers under control quite effectively. I remember despairing at the aphids attacking my little patch of Scabiosa columbaria , just as the flower stalks were appearing. A day or two later I saw the masked weavers very busy at work, picking them off like sweet treats. On closer inspection they had removed almost all of the aphids and there was no need for action on my part. Nature is indeed amazing. As the weather warms up and the insects come out in full force, nature creates her own supplements. This is when many of the birds switch from a fairly narrow diet to include many more insects and invertebrates so that they can supplement their diet while raising their young. Insects and other small creatures (invertebrates and vertebrates) have their own nutritional requirements that make them choose certain places to live. Some of these are very specific and closely (sometimes exclusively) associated with certain indigenous plants. For example, if you have the Wild Peach Tree ( Kiggelaria africana ) growing in or near your garden, you will surely have Garden Acraea butterflies, which lay their eggs on this tree as it is the food plant of their larvae. The Diedricks Cuckoo feeds almost exclusively on these caterpillars, so the chances of them being found where this tree occurs are pretty good. Many of the Acacia trees are very good insect attracting plants. Pollen rich flowers attract a host of pollinating insects. Many insects lay their eggs in the seeds or under the bark, and the grubs that hatch and live on the tree are highly nutritious treats for hungry birds such as Green Wood Hoopoes and Woodpeckers. Acacia sieberiana (Paperbark Acacia) with its flaky bark is a particularly good insect tree.

Linda Da Luca Random Harvest www.rh.co.za

A blue pansy sitting on Selago sp

There are different plants flowering in every season, and those that attract large numbers of pollinators also attract a large number of birds that eat these visiting insects. Clerodendrum glabrum (Smooth Tinderwood) literally hums with insects when flowering. As many birds seem to visit the Coral Trees ( Erythrina species) for the nectar from their flowers as they do for the insects that are attracted to them, and those that live on the trees. Many Aloe species are also good insect attracting plants. Choose the widest variety of different food plants i.e. nectar producing, seed producing, fruit bearing and insect attracting plants. This will ensure that there is a food source for a greater diversity of bird species, and more than likely, year-round availability of food. This will go a long way to encourage the birds to become resident.

An ant visits the Ehretia rigida

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43 | African Wildlife & Environment | 65 (2017)