Wildcare Queanbeyan is warning residents about the risk of feeding birds food with insufficient nutrients and vitamins. Photo: Wildcare Queanbeyan.
Wildcare Queanbeyan is asking people to steer clear of feeding native birds like kookaburras and magpies, with hatching season now well underway.
Wildcare Queanbeyan said it was common for members of the public to feed birds mince, but it doesn’t contain the necessary nutrients for birds to properly grow.
Trees around the Queanbeyan River are a hotspot for birds like kookaburras to lay eggs, with man-made nesting boxes set up to encourage them.
But on several occasions birds in these boxes have been found with bone and feather deficiencies that have been linked to being fed food like mince.
Wildcare’s bird coordinator Marianne Gates said it was distressing to see the malnourished chicks. She said the best way to properly feed the birds was to leave them be.
“Birds like kookaburras and magpies naturally get their own food, particularly bugs and small animals like mice. Feeding them things like mince and bread is very dangerous because it’s missing the calcium and other vitamins the birds need to grow and develop,” she said.
“If fed incorrectly, the birds can develop things like metabolic bone disorders. This means their bones become weak, their beaks are rubbery and they don’t grow very many feathers. They don’t survive long in the wild this way.
“We can’t stress enough, especially with it being baby bird season, if the baby birds are solely fed the wrong food, which they will come back for, it’s a death sentence.”
Ms Gates also warned against falling for specifically marked bird food.
“We once bought a few bird mince options from a pet store and looked at the ingredients inside,” she said.
“I thought to myself I wouldn’t feed my dog that, let alone a magpie or a kookaburra.
“The safest thing to do is just leave them be. They don’t need it.”
Ms Gates also expressed concerns about the spread of avian flu, stressing the last thing birds need is to be gathered in the same place.
“Birds will group up and continue to return to places if they know they will get fed,” she said.
“If one bird, which is sick, gathers with a bunch of others while getting food from someone feeding them, it will cause a domino effect. If one is sick, all of them will get sick.
“So please, think twice before deciding to feed birds.”
Ms Gates said if a bird was found to be distressed or spotted with deficiencies, people could call wildlife groups like Wildcare to respond.
“We make sure that when we feed animals in our care, which include birds, we are adding supplements to make it a complete and rounded diet,” she said.
“If you see animals that are in distress, or if you’re unsure about whether to feed animals or not, give Wildcare a call. We can either support you through it or have someone sent out to help.”
Wildcare Queanbeyan can be contacted 24/7 on 02 6299 1966.
