birds you see hunting in the air – swooping, scooping ...€¦ · engaging with nature ∼ bird...
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Engaging with Nature ∼ Bird Tracks: Understanding SA Birds, their Food & Habitat Table 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use
BIRD TRACKS TABLE 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use by land-based birds in South Australia. Shows where birds look for food, what types of food they find
there, how they find and catch it, and the types of birds that tend to use each habitat layer and how they prefer to find their food.
Feeding Group Where & how they feed Common Foods Key Features & Species in Group you may see in Schools
Birds you see Hunting in the Air – Swooping, Scooping, Sallying & Snatching
Look & See
Swoopers
- Birds of Prey By Day - Eagles,
Kites, Harriers
Falcons, Goshawks &
Sparrowhawks.
By night – Owls
Hover up high or perch up
high, sight prey and catch it
on ground, in air or among
trees. Grab prey in talons,
perch and use hooked beak
to tear up for eating
Small live animals:
rats, mice, rabbits &
other birds.
Dead animals or
carrion
Powerful legs, feet, talons,
for grabbing & holding
prey. Wings for speed
or gliding.
Nankeen Kestrel,
Black-shouldered Kite,
Brown Goshawk, Whistling Kite,
Wedge-tail Eagle
Air Swimming
Insect Scoopers
By Day - Swallows,
Martins, Bee-eaters
Woodswallows.
By Night – Nightjars
Frogmouths.
Catch insects in open air by
scooping them up as fly
past. Continually in air or
making trips out from
perches.
Free flying insects:
variety of small
moths, flies, bees
mosquitoes
etc.
Long rounded wings for
speed OR shorter, broader
wings for gliding at speed.
Fairy Martin,
Welcome Swallow,
Dusky Woodswallow
Somersaulting
Insect Snatchers
Willy Wagtails,
Fantails, other bird
species such as
honeyeaters.
Catch insects in open air
above ground or among
trees & shrubs with ‘sally’
(leap into air off ground or
perch, to dive on insect) or
‘snatch’ insect off surface
while in air.
Free flying insects:
variety of small
moths, flies, bees
mosquitoes etc
Insects on surface:
snatched
off trunk,
branch,
ground.
Short rounded wings for
manoeuvrability, long tail can
be fanned for quick stop or
balance as turn, whiskers at
base of beak to guide insects
into mouth.
Willy Wagtail, Grey Fantail,
Honeyeaters e.g. White-plumed
Engaging with Nature ∼ Bird Tracks: Understanding SA Birds, their Food & Habitat Table 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use
Feeding Group Where & how they feed Common Foods Key Features & Species in Group you may see in Schools
Birds you see Hunting in Trees & Shrubs – Probing, Gleaning, Picking & Pecking
Up & Down Probers
– Trunk Specialists Treecreepers,
Sittellas
Walk up or down trunks &
branches or on dead
wood. Probe under rough
bark, in cracks and
crevices to catch
invertebrates hiding on
trunks, branches.
Variety of
invertebrates;
spiders,
beetles,
borers,
moths,
centipedes etc.
Strong climbing legs & feet.
Treecreepers - Downward
curved bills, travel up trunks.
Sittellas – upward curved
bills, travel down branches.
Varied Sittella,
White-browed Treecreeper
All Around Probers
- Tree Generalists Currawongs,
Shrike-tits, Whistlers,
Short-beaked
Honeyeaters,
Miners
Probe under lose bark, in
cracks and crevices to
catch invertebrates and
small animals.
Variety of
invertebrates as
above and small
animals, e.g.,
bats,
geckos.
Strong legs & feet that can
grasp bark, branches. Strong
bills to lift bark and probe.
Currawong uses long sharp bill
to catch small animals.
White-naped Honeyeater,
Rufous Whistler,
Grey Currawong,
Crested Shrike-tit, Ravens
Over & Under
Leaf Gleaners
- Lerp Specialists Pardalotes,
Lorrikeet species
Glean scale from leaf
surfaces. Expertly lift and
eat scale/lerp house and
catch and eat sap-sucking
bug underneath.
Tiny Scale or Lerp
bugs and their sugary
scale houses.
Specially adapted beaks for
gleaning scale and able to walk
up and down on leaf surfaces
(Pardalotes) or hang from leaf
bunches or branches (Lorikeets).
Musk Lorikeet, Striated& Spotted Pardalotes
Up & Over Pickers,
Peckers &
Gleaners – Tree &
Shrub Generalists Thornbills,
Fairy-wrens,
Honeyeaters,
Wattlebirds, Miners
Glean (lift or catch) insects
from surface of leaves,
twigs & branches as walk
over foliage and branches.
Caterpillars, spiders,
small insects including
beetles, bugs, flies &
mosquitoes.
Legs & feet that can grasp leaves,
twigs, branches. Small bills that
can pick, probe & catch insects.
Striated Pardalote,
Brown-headed Honeyeater,
Superb Blue Fairy-wren,
Noisy & Yellow-throated Miners,
other Short-beaked Honeyeaters
Engaging with Nature ∼ Bird Tracks: Understanding SA Birds, their Food & Habitat Table 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use
BIRD TRACKS TABLE 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use by land-based birds in South Australia – page 3
Feeding Group Where & how they feed Common Foods Key Features & Species in Group you may see in Schools
Birds you see Feeding on flowers of Trees & Shrubs – Nectar Feeders
Down the Tube
Nectar Feeders -
Specialist Pollinator
Long-billed
Honeyeaters
Visit flowers adapted to
attract birds, use long bill
and brush tongue to harvest
nectar from tubular flowers,
Eremophilas, Correas,
Callistemons etc.
Nectar of tube-like
flowers that birds
pollinate as they
feed. Often
orange
or red.
Legs & feet that can hang on to
twigs and branches. Long
curved bill and brush tongue.
Yellow-wing Honeyeater,
Eastern Spinebill.
Slurping Around
Flower Feeders -
Generalists
Short-billed
Honeyeaters
Wattlebirds, Miners,
Lorrikeets, Rosellas
Visit flowers that allow birds
to harvest nectar. May
defend large sources of
nectar from other birds.
Insects also large part of
diet.
Nectar of open
flowers, e.g.
Eucalypts. Parrots
sometimes harvest
pollen too
& Rosellas
the whole
flower.
Legs & feet that can hang on to
twigs and branches. Small Beak
and brush tongues or parrot
beak with brush tongue.
White-plumed Honeyeater,
White-naped Honeyeater,
Red Wattlebird, Rainbow
Lorikeet, Adelaide Rosella.
Birds you see Feeding on Fruit, Pods & Seeds of Trees & Shrubs – Crunching & Munching
Crunching &
Munching Fruit
Feeders
Lorrikeets, Rosellas,
Currawongs,
Silvereyes,
Honeyeaters,
Harvest berries from among
foliage of shrubs, trees and
groundcovers.
Berries of Native
Cherry, Myoporum,
Leucopogon,
Astroloma, Saltbush
Legs & feet that can hang on to
twigs and branches.
Variety of beaks.
Red Wattlebird,
Other Honeyeaters,
Grey Currawong,
Rainbow Lorikeet
Crunching &
Munching Seed
Eaters - Specialists
Finches, Silvereyes,
Cockatoos, Galahs,
Rosellas, Magpies
From perches in trees and
shrubs find, husk and eat
seeds OR split open pods
with beak or claws and
extract and eat seeds. May
have to crunch & tear open
pods to get them.
Seeds of Hakeas,
Acacias, Eucalypts,
Sheoaks, Native Pea
species, Wattles.
Legs & feet that can hang on to
twigs and branches. Large,
powerful beaks, strong gripping
claws.
Red-browed Firetail, Adelaide Rosella,
Yellow–tailed Black Cockatoo
Engaging with Nature ∼ Bird Tracks: Understanding SA Birds, their Food & Habitat Table 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use
BIRD TRACKS TABLE 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use by land-based birds in South Australia - page 4
Feeding Group Where & how they feed Common Foods Key Features & Species in Group you may see in Schools
Birds you see Hunting on the Ground & Around – Scratching and Catching
Perched Pouncers
- Insect & Animal
Specialists
Robins, Kingfishers,
Kookaburras
Perch above ground and
watch for prey. Swoop
down and catch and
return to perch. Kill large
animals by beating on
perch and then
swallowing.
Robins – small
insects Kingfishers
& Kookaburras –
small lizards, mice
to
snakes.
Great eyesight, beaks that can
catch and hold prey. Scarlet Robin,
Sacred Kingfisher,
Kookaburra
Scratchers &
Catchers -
Invertebrate
Specialists
Scrub-wrens,
Thrushes, Shrike-
thrushes, Magpies,
Currawongs, Ravens,
Blackbird
Scratch through leaf litter
or probe in woody debris,
probe into crevices on
ground or low branches.
Insects,
invertebrates of all
kinds
plus small
skinks,
worms,
spiders.
Strong feet for scratching,
strong bill for catching and
probing. White-browed Scrub-wren,
White’s Thrush,
Grey Shrike-thrush
Feral Blackbird
Birds you see Feeding on the Ground & Around – Picking & Pecking
Along the Ground
Pickers & Peckers -
Insect & Seed
Eaters
Plovers, Murray
Magpie, Thornbills,
Whitefaces, Chats
Fairy-wrens
Walk, hop run across
ground catching insects
on ground or looking for
small seeds.
Variety of insects
found on open
ground, in turf OR
small seeds found
on the ground.
Legs and feet for walking,
hopping or running, beak
for picking or pecking. Yellow-rumped Thornbill,
Superb Blue Fairy-wren,
Spur-winged Plover,
Murray Magpie
Engaging with Nature ∼ Bird Tracks: Understanding SA Birds, their Food & Habitat Table 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use
BIRD TRACKS TABLE 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use by land-based birds in South Australia - page 5
Feeding Group Where & how they feed Common Foods Key Features & Species in Group you may see in Schools
Birds you see Feeding on the Ground & Around – Picking & Pecking
In the Ground &
Around
Diggers & Probers
– Omnivores
Walk around on the
ground poking, probing in
the earth, among leaf
litter, in dead wood,
bases of plants. Looking
for variety of small
animals & insects, worms,
seeds and rotting matter.
Skinks, geckos,
beetles, larvae,
grasshoppers,
worms, spiders,
mice, small
frogs, grass,
wattle
seeds etc.
Strong legs and feet for
Hopping, walking, & pouncing
Strong beak for probing,
tearing and grabbing. Grey Currawong, Grey Shrike-thrush, Australian Mapgie,
Little & Australian Ravens,
White-winged Chough, Feral Starling
On the Ground
Seed Peckers -
Specialists
Pigeons, Finches,
Cockatoos,
Galahs, Rosellas &
other parrots
Walk across ground
searching for and eating
seeds. May dig or probe
ground to find seeds or if
finch hang from grasses
or sedges to eat from
seed heads.
Large variety of
seeds. Finches –
small grass seeds,
sedge seeds.
Pigeons & Parrots
– grass seeds,
Acacia &
other seeds.
Feet for walking, beak for
cracking/husking seeds, digging
out of ground, crop (throat pouch
for storing seed and grinding
gizzard (stomach) for digesting. Red-browed & Diamond Firetails, Rosellas, Crested Pigeon, Common
Bronzewing, Red-rump Parrot, Galah,
Sulphur-crested Cockatoo, Feral Pigeon, Feral Sparrow
Birds you see Feeding on the Ground & Around – Grass Grazers & Scavengers
On the Grass
Grazers & Plant
Eaters
Ducks, Geese &
Waterhen species
Walk across ground
grazing on fresh tips of
grasses, sedges and
rushes. Also browse
green shoots, seed heads
Variety of fresh tips
of grasses,
sedges
and
rushes.
Feet for walking, beak for
nipping off shoots and herbage. Maned or Wood Duck,
Cape Barren Goose,
Swamp Hen, Moorhen
On the Ground
Scavengers
Seagulls, Ducks,
Pigeon species
Prepared to eat all sorts
of wasted human & pet
food, from rubbish bins,
on ground, when similar
to natural food types.
Eat sandwiches,
old meat, fruit,
seed spilt
from
aviaries.
Behaviour: walk around, investigate,
tolerate humans, probe, etc Little & Australian Ravens, Galah
Australian Magpie, Silver Gull,
Ducks, Crested Pigeon, Feral Pigeon
Engaging with Nature ∼ Bird Tracks: Understanding SA Birds, their Food & Habitat Table 1: Bird Food & Habitat Use