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