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Key plants used by Australian birds:
Cooba (Acacia salicina)

The Australian Acacia salicina (also called Native Willow or Cooba) is a shrub/tree that can grow in large numbers in semi-arid conditions. Although most plants in the acacia family (which includes wattles) use insects, rather than birds, for pollenation, they are important, because they produce a bean-like seed that is favoured by several species of cockatoos. There appear to be many small insects in Acacia salicinas, because one can basically always find insect-hunting birds (such as e.g. Yellow-rumped Thornbills in them.

Bird species found in this type of habitat or plant

This is not necessarily a complete list. We display here some examples of bird species found by us in this kind of habitat or plant. Hover your cursor on thumbnails to see names of species; click on thumbnail to go to the page describing the species.

Photos

Tall Acacia salicina tree in our paddock in inland NSW

Close-up view of an Acacia salicina seedpod

Lateral view of a Western Gerygone hunting for insects in an Acacia salicina tree
[Eulah Creek, NSW, May 2013]

Acacia salicinas have drooping outer branches favoured by some bird species for nesting - e.g. the Little Friarbird
[Eulah Creek, NSW, December 2010]

Usage

This is not necessarily a complete list. We collate here various ways in which birds can use various types of plant.

Perch Roost Shade Food Nectar Fruit Seed Prey Nest
space
Nest
mat.
Shelter Vantage
point

These pages are largely based on our own observations and those of our contributors. The structure of these bird pages is explained HERE. For more salient facts on any bird species please refer to a field guide.

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