How to help birds through the seasons — Autumn

Encouraging and supporting birdlife in your backyard is easier than you may think. By taking a few easy steps to create a safe space with access to food and water, you can welcome feathered friends to your garden sanctuary throughout the year. This series looks at bird behaviour through the seasons and how to support them during each one. 

Autumn 

The harvest moon is upon us here in the southern hemisphere and all around is an abundance of food ripening on vines, trees and flower heads. After building nests and rearing young, most adult backyard birds spend autumn eating, loading up before the winter. But for the young birds who are in adolescence now, they have one key thing on the agenda…speed.

Spreading their wings 

Chicks born this breeding season have already gone through most of their childhood. They have broken through shells, called out for sustenance from mum and dad, and tentatively left the nest, though they aren't quite grown up yet. These fresh faces still turn to their parents for guidance on what to eat, where to sleep and how to survive. 

Karen Saunders of Native Bird Rescue says that in autumn the combination of adolescent birds and the low position of the sun in the sky leads to a spike in window strike.  

“At this time of year, there are heaps of juvenile birds around,” says Karen. “They are testing their limits and abilities a bit like teenagers who like to drive too fast and think they are immortal.”

At Native Bird Rescue, they see an influx of window strike victims, particularly kereru and kākā. Though window strikes can be fatal for all birds, larger birds seem to suffer the most casualties with their extra body weight intensifying the blow. 

Window strike kills so many birds each year, but it can be mitigated.

Feather Friendly® window decals are a stick-on dot grid developed in North America where migrating birds collide with skyscrapers en mass. The small dots let birds see the windows without obstructing the view from inside. They will hopefully be available to purchase on the island soon, but for now, have a look here. 

Let nature feed the birds

Totting off to the nearest park with bread in hand to feed the birds is a familiar childhood pastime in New Zealand, but unbeknownst to many, that kindness is actually killing them. 

Feeding birds human food or even store bought bird seed is fatal for many of our taonga species.

Greenfinch eating sunflower seeds

This year Karen has had numerous chicks brought into Native Bird Rescue who are suffering from conditions associated with human feeding. Metabolic bone disease is common among kākā chicks. It’s a debilitating condition that leaves birds with extreme deformities in both their skeleton and beaks, making survival difficult at best.

Instead of actively feeding birds, a more balanced and holistic way is to create a backyard that attracts them naturally. While planting particular trees is a great way to encourage birds to frequent your property (more on that in our winter edition), another way is to simply let your summer flowers go to seed. 

While our native birds are not seed-eaters, finches are. By leaving sunflower heads to droop on the plant, this gives finches a food source that is naturally occurring and there is a limited supply….once the seeds are gone, they are gone until the next season. 

“If birds are eating the sunflower seeds that's fine,” says Karen. “This is the time of year when that happens in nature, it's the seed being bought off the shelf that’s the problem.”

For more information on feeding the birds, have a read of Zealandia's guide to feeding the birds at home. 

Once the storm has passed 

The past summer season has been symptomatic of La Niña conditions, with storms across the region. While we batten down the hatches and secure outlying furniture and pot plants, many birds are left exposed to the elements. 

New Zealand Cook’s petrel

“When these big weather events come through bringing big trees down, go and have a look at what you can see after a storm,” suggests Karen. “There could be injured birds on the ground nearby.”

It’s not just forest birds that are vulnerable in bad weather. In our collective backyard, the Hauraki Gulf/Tikapa Moana, or seabird superhighway as it is also known, tired birds can get washed or blown ashore by gale-force winds.

“Go for a walk on the beach and keep your eyes out for petrels, shearwaters, and other seabirds that might have been displaced, it happens more often than you think,” says Karen.

Seabirds in particular are vulnerable if they are forced onshore as their legs are specially designed for living at sea and not walking on land and will struggle if left alone to attempt it. 

If you come across a displaced or injured seabird or native bird, call Native Bird Rescue on 020 473 9464.