|
Key plants used by Australian birds:
|
There are many (more or less obvious) ways in which birds can make use of plants. We list some of these here (without making a serious effort to achieve completeness), in order to elucidate why some of the plant species presented on these pages are listed. We also attempt to demonstrate how plants, in turn, use birds to achieve their own goals.
There is now also a page on how plants use birds for their purposes.
Usage |
This is not necessarily a complete list. We collate here various ways in which birds can use various types of plant.
Perches |
The most trivial use a bird can make of a plant is to sit on it, which is called "perching".
Birds sitting ("perching") on a near-horizontal branch of a
Casuarina tree:
Spiny-cheeked Honeyeater
Roosts |
When a bird settles in for the night, this is called "roosting". Plants, such as trees or shrubs, offer birds protection against predators while they are asleep.
Example of birds roosting in a tree: family of Crested Pigeons
Shade |
Australia being a hot continent, finding shade is important for birds. Foliage protects birds against intense radiation from the sun.
Pair of Tawny Frogmouths
on their day roost in the shade of a tree
(photo courtesy of B. Hensen)
Plant food |
Since leaves or more lignous (woody) parts of plants have low nutrition values, there are not many birds on land that feed on them. This is more common under water (where one cannot observe this as easily).
Purple Swamphen with part of an aquatic plant in its bill
[Narrabri Lake, NSW, April 2012]
Nectar |
There are many plants that rely on birds for pollenation. They offer birds nectar in return to attract them. Nectar is one of the major food sources of many different species of birds.
Little Friarbird
feasting on the nectar of a eucalypt tree
Fruit |
Various types of plants bear fruit that offer a valuable food source to many bird species.
Figbird feeding one of
its young with a native fruit
Seeds |
Many bird species feed on plant seeds, ranging from tiny grass seeds to nut-like large seeds.
This Double-barred
Finch has found a way to feast on the seeds of a grass stalk
that is too tall to reach from the ground
Male Australian
King-Parrot shelling a nut of a White Cedar
Prey |
Not only birds seek shelter in the foliage of plants. Lots of insects live there too, on which many bird species prey.
Silvereye with
its catch, a parasitic insect that it has pried loose from a branch
Nesting space |
In plants birds find places to hide not only themselves, but also their nests. One of the most important "assets" of old trees that cannot be replaced in a hurry by replanting new, young trees after felling old ones are nesting hollows large enough to accommodate big birds, such as e.g. cockatoos and parrots, but also some raptors.
Striped Honeyeaters
like nesting in drooping plants, in this case a hanging Mistletoe bush
Two nestling Nankeen
Kestrels peeking out of the hollow with their nest; this
large hollow is the leftover of a former major side branch of a
River Red Gum
Forks in trees can also be seen as nesting space, as this example
shows - a Magpie-lark
pair's mudnest sitting on the fork of a eucalypt tree
Nesting material |
Plants not only provide birds with the possibility to find places to hide their nests, but they are also a valuable resource of material from which to build the nests.
Grey Shrike-thrushes specialise in nests made from strips of bark
More conventionally, sticks are used; this Cattle Egret is carrying a
eucalypt
twig for its nest
Shelter |
Plants, especially dense growth, offer birds refuge from predators, including birds of prey. Raptors, such as e.g. falcons, will not risk damaging their wings ore eyesight in pursuit of their prey and will therefore let go of a target that dives into a tree or shrub.
This female Red-rumped
Parrot is hiding in dense tree cover after an attack by an
Australian Hobby
Vantage points |
Tall plants (compared to their surroundings) provide birds with potential vantage points from where their calls can be heard over long distances.
Example of a bird using a vantage point to be heard over long
distances: Olive-backed
Oriole
Other birds hunt from vantage points, for example
Black-shouldered Kites
