Feeding the Birds at Your Table: A guide for Australians

by Darryl Jones

Feeding the Birds at Your Table is designed to provide detailed, comprehensive advice and suggestions for people wishing to feed wild birds in Australia from their own backyards and balconies. Millions of Australians feed wild birds in their gardens, yet there is currently little information or advice to tell them how to do this properly. This book provides the first readily available source of reliable information relevant to Australia. What’s more, it is written by an expert who feeds birds himself. Including profiles on different types of Australian urban birds, what to feed them, and the types of feeders to use, it also features advice on how to create a bird-friendly garden. Feeding the Birds at Your Table offers sensible and practical suggestions so feeding doesn’t only benefit us, but benefits the birds themselves.

Genres: Nonfiction, Birds

208 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2019

About the author

This article (Darryl^Jones) is for the Australian ecologist.
For the children's author see Darryl^^Jones.
For the English literature professor, see Darryl^^^Jones.

Reviews

[Peter Holz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over the years I have come to the unfortunate realisation that people are going to continue feeding birds, not because it is beneficial for the birds themselves, which it isn't, but to bring joy into their own lives. This book accepts that this misguided practice will continue and attempts to establish some guidelines to minimise the harm it causes the birds. While it does a good job of highlighting the hazards of providing artificial food for birds it does a less successful job of providing mitigation strategies. As a veterinarian, my biggest concern is the disease transmission which occurs at feeders. The author highlights two outbreaks of disease, one in the US and the other in the UK, that were linked to feeders. However, there have been many more disease outbreaks, some much closer to home. A Salmonella outbreak in New Zealand, which spread to involve people, was linked to feeders and I regularly see parrots found dead at the base of feeders killed by psittacosis, a bacterial disease that is also transmissible to people. While I applaud the message to clean feeders thoroughly and regularly to minimise faecal contamination, diseases like psittacosis are spread by large numbers of birds breathing and sneezing on each other, conditions which are promoted by feeders. The second important point is that many people do not put nutritious food into their feeders. However, this should not be a problem if the author is correct in his assertion that, regarding magpies, "less than a tenth of the food brought to chicks was obtained from feeders" and that "on average most birds obtain much less than a quarter of their daily diet from feeders". If this is in fact correct then I would surely not be seeing so many juvenile magpies with deformed bones and fractures caused by being fed a diet consisting predominantly of minced meat. Under no circumstances should any bird be fed mince meat, or sugar water. Although the author correctly suggests feeding small amounts infrequently to discourage dependence, most of the feeders mentioned in the book provide large amounts of food over an extended period of time. The author also mentions a lack of resources in Australia where information about bird feeding can be obtained, but then fails to direct the reader to any resources. For me, the most important question he asks is, "should I report these sick birds? To whom?" The answer to that is to call the Emergency Animal Disease Watch Hotline on 1 800 675 888. Alternatively contact your local veterinarian or zoo who can probably conduct a post mortem on the dead birds to determine the cause of death. While providing artificial food for birds does the birds themselves no favours, if people are determined to do it then following the suggestions put forth in this book should at least minimise the damage caused to our feathered friends by this unhealthy practice.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very handy guide for anyone in Australia feeding wild birds.
We are just about the only country in the world where this is actively discouraged, but it happens nonetheless - so we might as well be doing in an ethical, responsible and sustainable way. This little book will help my fellow wild-bird lovers to do the right thing by their avian visitors.

[Kassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

sometimes I have dreams about being an eccentric rich person and buying like 50 copies of my favroutie informative books to leave in little free libraries all around Sydney. Luckily I can see on Trove that this title has made it to plenty of public libraries, I really hope people are reading it! If you know someone who feeds birds, buy them this book. If you are interested in feeding birds (or just being more knowledgeable in ethical ways to interact and care for native birds!) then grab yourself a copy too. I can also recommend this video from the Randwick council about habitat creation for birds and all of their 'Gardening on the Wildside' videos if you want to know how to make happy spaces for animals in your garden.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great introductory for someone wanting to know more about the do’s and don’ts on feeding Australian birds in your backyard.

[Judy · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really informative and easily read book on feeding out birds in our own environments.
Yes I do love feeding and interacting with the birds in my area. This gave me extra hints on a few points I had not considered. It confirmed the importance of good hygiene practices and gave me talking points with a couple of mince feeding neighbours.
Would recommend it to anyone who love wild birds and is realistic enough to know that the current policy of condemnation for feeding just drives the practice underground or results in bad choices.

[Daniel]

A real page-turner, I couldn't put it down!

[M · Rating 2 out of 5]

A little repetitive but still very informative and easy to understand. 40% of this book is an index.

[Chase · Rating 5 out of 5]

Looking forward to feeding our wild birds properly.

[Tom · Rating 3 out of 5]

Enjoyable, easy read. Gave me a couple things to think about, and I’ll definitely keep this book around as a reference.

[Rochelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Every wild bird lover should read this book, especially if you plan on feeding them.
Feeding the Birds at Your table was a comprehensive guide for those wishing to feed the birds visiting their backyard. Darryl includes the different types of birds we get in our backyards, and what food is best to feed each type.
The official guidelines say you shouldn't feed wild birds at all, but there are many people who ignore these guidelines, so Darryl has set out to make sure that those who are feeding the birds are at least doing it properly.
It was written in easy to understand language and will keep any bird lover's interest.

[Maxine Dale · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Kyla Meredith · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea bird-feeding attitudes were so different in Australia than the US or UK! I learned quite a bit about sustainable feeding practices.

[Angela Incigneri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full of useful advice. I would suggest it for everyone . Not too scientific not too easy.

[Ellen · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I don’t feed birds this is still a helpful and informative guide. It suggests safe and ethical practices, as well as what not to do.