Feeding wildlife

Should I offer backyard quenda (bandicoots) food?

Human food is not natural for quenda and can make them sick. Quenda naturally eat plant tubers, bugs and fungi. Eating other foods can cause life threatening illnesses and obesity. Quenda are relatively small compared to humans, and even small portions of human food can be very unhealthy for them.

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Offering backyard quenda food is not recommended.

If you choose to do this you should offer food in ways that minimises the risk of harm:

• Completely avoid unhealthy (and potentially life-threatening) foodstuffs such as bread, cakes and biscuits, raw meat and cooked bones.
  • Raw meat can give them parasites such as Toxoplasma gondii.
  • Cooked bones do not digest properly.

• Offer very small portions of safer foods, and not everyday.
  • Mealworms are the safest option for quenda, as they most closely resemble one of their main natural food sources.
  • Provide small quantities such as one mealworm per quenda every third day.
• Offer food at varying locations, amongst dense vegetation to help quenda escape from predators such as cats and foxes.

Feeding quenda at consistent location every day may result in predators recognising the location as a quenda “aggregation point”. Predators can use such knowledge to hunt quenda more effectively. Additionally, “aggregation points” can become heavily contaminated with quenda faeces, and may cause outbreaks of infections which can make quenda sick.

What can I do instead to help quenda living in my garden?

There are plenty of things you can do to assist quenda living in your garden, to encourage their presence without the risk of causing them harm.

• Ensure they are safe from pets on your property.
  • Keep cats indoors, or confined to outdoor enclosures.
  • Provide a “dog free” area of your garden into which quenda can escape. Use ring-lock fencing to separate parts of the yard with dense vegetation, as a refuge for quenda.
• Plant plenty of low lying, dense vegetation around your garden to provide shelter and assist their natural food sources.
• Avoid using poisons such as snail bait and rat bait – both of which can be fatal to quenda.
  • If using snail baits, use iron EDTA (this may still make quenda sick, but is less likely to cause death).
  • If using bait, place it in areas at least 1m off the ground that are not accessible to quenda.
  • Use cages for the bait that allow access to snails but not quenda.
• “Wildlife proof” ponds and pools.
  • Use pool covers.
  • Ensure there is an escape route if a quenda falls in – e.g. bricks placed on the top step of a pool, or a sturdy stack of bricks onto which a quenda can climb to get out of a pond.
• Do not remove quenda from your property and release them elsewhere. This is illegal (Wildlife Conservation Act, 1950). Few quenda survive after being moved in this way.

Download the ‘Feeding Quenda’ information sheet.

Source:

¹Nagy, K.A., Girard, I.A., Brown, T.K. 1999. Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles and birds. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 19: 247-277

Should I offer backyard magpies food?

Offering backyard magpies food is not recommended.

Magpies are frequent visitors to the urban backyard and are often encouraged with food. Magpies are also quite clever in asking for food with various cheeky methods, which increases our willingness to provide food. However, feeding human food can lead to nutritional imbalances, increase the risk of disease and lead to a disruption in natural animal behaviour.

Nutritional imbalances

Human food is not natural for magpies and can make them sick. A natural diet for these birds consists of insects and small animals such as lizards and mice. Food sources commonly offered to magpies include bread, mincemeat, bird seed and pet food, all of which can lead to nutritional imbalances and life threatening complications.

Feeding magpies bread can cause stomach problems, raw meat and sausage lacks the calcium requirements of these birds and may lead to weak bones and beaks, and bird seed is only a minor part of the magpie diet. Magpies are also considerably smaller than humans so the amount of food supplied is often in excess of the required daily intake for these birds.

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Spread of disease

Feeding magpies (or any wildlife) raw meat can expose them to parasitic disease such as the potentially fatal parasite Toxoplasma gondii. In addition, regular feeding stations where numerous birds congregate to feed can increase the risk of disease transmission.

Disrupting animal behaviour

A constant supply of ‘easy’ human food can disrupt the natural population density within an area. Magpies can out-compete many smaller birds for food and effectively force them out of the area. An increased population of magpies may also occur resulting in greater pressure on natural food sources.

What can I do instead to help magpies living in my garden?

There are plenty of things you can do to encourage magpies in your area without the risk of causing harm.

• Ensure magpies are safe from pets on your property.
  • Keep cats indoors, or contained within an outdoor enclosure.
• Avoid using plant and insect poisons, which can be fatal to birds – either by eating the poison, or by eating poisoned bugs. Additionally, killing insects will remove a natural food source for these birds.

Feeding magpies is not recommended.

However, if you must feed them, you should aim to minimise the risk of harm:

• Completely avoid unhealthy (and potentially life-threatening) foodstuffs such as bread (and other baked goods) and processed meat.
• Offer very small portions of safer foods, and not everyday.
• Mealworms are a preferred option for omnivorous birds such as magpies.
• If you are feeding raw meat ensure that:
  • it is high quality mince.
  • It has been frozen (-20°C) for at least three days to ensure Toxoplasma gondii is not transmitted.
  • you add additional sources of protein and calcium such as Insectivore or InsectaPro and calcium carbonate.

• Offer food in ways that minmises the risk of harm.
  • Offer food in elevated locations, to avoid predation by cats and foxes.
  • Ensure the feeding station is routinely cleaned to prevent the spread of disease.

Download the ‘Magpie Feeding’ information sheet.

Source:

¹Nagy, K.A., Girard, I.A., Brown, T.K. 1999. Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles and birds. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 19: 247-277

Should I offer backyard bobtail lizards food?

Offering backyard bobtails food is not recommended.

Bobtail lizards can often be found in Perth backyards and it is tempting to provide food for our wildlife residents. However, by feeding our native animals we may be doing more harm than good. Providing human food to native animals can lead to nutritional imbalances, increase the spread of disease, and result in negative influences on animal behaviour.

Nutritional imbalances

Human food is not natural for bobtails and can make them sick. Bobtails naturally eat plant tubers, bugs and fungi. Nutritional imbalances may lead to obesity and other life threatening complications.

Remember bobtails are much smaller than the average human so even small portions of human food can be very unhealthy for them. Along with the associated health risks from a bad diet, overweight animals are less able to evade predators.

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Spread of Disease

Offering foods such as raw meat can expose animals to parasitic disease such as the potentially fatal parasite Toxoplasma gondii. If numerous animals are feeding from the one feeding station the risk of disease transmission between them is also much greater.

Disrupting natural behaviour

Feeding bobtails may also result in a loss of fear for humans, and as a result make them more vulnerable to abuse by other people or bring them into contact with household pets i.e. cats and dogs.

What can I do instead to help bobtails living in my garden?

There are plenty of things you can do to encourage reptiles living in your garden without the risk of causing them harm.

• Ensure bobtails are safe from pets on your property.
  • Keep cats indoors, or contained within an outdoor enclosure.
  • Provide a “dog free” area of your garden. Use ring-lock fencing to separate out part of the yard.
• Plant plenty of native vegetation and mulch around your garden, to provide shelter and food sources.
• Keep a substantial amount of leaf litter to encourage insects for the bobtail to eat.
• Provide some basking spaces, such as rocks, for these cold blooded reptiles to warm up.
• Avoid using plant and insect poisons, which can be fatal to bobtails – either by the bobtail eating the poison, or by the bobtail eating poisoned bugs or plant matter covered in poison. Additionally, killing insects will remove a food source for the lizards.
• Do not remove bobtails from your property and release them elsewhere. This is illegal (Wildlife Conservation Act 1950). The survival of animals after being moved in this way is very low. Bobtails are monogamous (they tend to have the same breeding partner for life) and moving a bobtail will separate it from its mate.

Feeding bobtails is not recommended.

If you must feed them, you should aim to minimise the risk of harm:

• Offer very small portions of safer foods, and not everyday.
• Snails are a favourite food of bobtails and readily available in the garden. Make sure they haven’t been exposed to snail pellets.
• Plant low, fruiting plants in the garden, such as strawberries, to provide a treat for the bobtails alongside their own foraging of native foodstuffs.

Download the ‘Bobtail Feeding’ information sheet.

Source:

¹ Nagy, K.A., Girard, I.A., Brown, T.K. 1999. Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles and birds. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 19: 247-277

Should I feed ducks?

Offering ducks food is not recommended.

For many people, feeding ducks at the local park or waterway is an enjoyable way of interacting with wildlife. Offering food to waterfowl is a social activity that is often undertaken as a family.²  However, feeding human food can lead to nutritional imbalances, increase the risk of disease and lead to altered animal behaviour.

Nutritional imbalances

Bread is often a favourite choice for feeding ducks, and a recent Queensland study found that people fed ducks an average of 4.9 slices of bread per feeding session.² Bread is like fast food for ducks, of little nutritional value, and can make them sick.² Dabbling ducks, like the Pacific Black Duck (Anas superciliosa), are mainly vegetarian. They feed on the seeds of aquatic plants supplemented with small crustaceans, molluscs and aquatic insects.

Remember birds are much smaller than humans so even small portions of human food can be very unhealthy for them.

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Spread of disease

In many cases a large proportion of bread offered to ducks is not eaten. The Queensland study found that people distributed 6 ½ loaves of bread daily into the lake of one park, of which ducks ate 3 loaves.² The uneaten bread sinks causing nutrient pollution, which in turn leads to an increase in the soil bacteria that causes avian botulism.

While there is no direct link between feeding bread to birds and botulism, it can add to conditions which make birds sick.⁴ When water levels are low, the bacteria are concentrated, which causes infection as the ducks ingest mud when foraging for food. Ducks with botulism become paralysed, unable to eat and drown.

Disrupting animal behaviour

Further research is needed to assess whether feeding ducks can cause ducks to become dependent on humans for food or abnormally increase the local population density. There have however been reports of aggressive behaviour by ducks demanding food, putting young children feeders at risk.

Feeding ducks is not recommended.

However, if you must feed them, you should aim to minimise the risk of harm:

• Completely avoid unhealthy (and potentially life-threatening) foodstuffs such as bread and other baked goods.

• Offer small portions of safer foods, and not everyday.
  • Mealworms are a preferred option for omnivorous birds such as ducks.
• Offer food in a way that minimises the risk of harm.
  • Stop feeding if the ducks are not eating food.

Download the ‘Duck Feeding’ information sheet.

Sources:

1 Nagy, K.A., Girard, I.A., Brown, T.K. 1999. Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles and birds. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 19: 247-277

2 Chapman R. & Jones D.N. (2009), Just Feeding the Ducks: Quantifying A Common Wildlife-Human Interaction, The Sunbird Vol 39 No. 2, 19-28.

3 http://www.birdlife.org.au/bird-profile/pacific-black-duck

4 http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-09/bird-deaths-avian-botulism/5377918

Should I feed swans?

Offering swans food is not recommended.

For many people, feeding swans at the local park or waterway is an enjoyable way of interacting with wildlife. Offering food to waterfowl is a social activity that is often undertaken as a family.² However, feeding non-natural sources of food can lead to nutritional imbalances, increase the risk of disease and lead to altered animal behaviour.

Nutritional imbalances

Bread is often a favourite choice for feeding waterfowl. However bread is like junk food and provides little nutritional value for swans. Too much can lead to nutritional imbalances and life threatening complications. A condition called ‘angel wing’ has been attributed to artificial diets, which results in birds being unable to fly. ³ Black swans (Cygnus atratus) are vegetarian feeding on algae and weeds which they obtain by plunging their long necks in up to 1m of water.⁴

Remember birds are much smaller than humans so even small portions of human food can be very unhealthy for them.

This chart is best viewed in Chrome or Safari.

Spread of disease

When too much bread is offered to waterfowl it is not eaten. The leftover bread sinks causing nutrient pollution, which in turn leads to an increase in the soil bacteria that causes avian botulism. While there is no direct link between feeding bread to birds and botulism, it can add to conditions which make birds sick.⁴ When water levels are low, the bacteria are concentrated, which causes infection when swans are plunging for food. Swans with botulism become paralysed, unable to eat and drown.

Disrupting animal behaviour

Further research is needed to assess whether feeding swans can cause them to become dependent on humans for food or abnormally increase the local population density. There have however been anecdotal reports of aggressive behaviour by swans demanding food. This can put young children at risk who are often feeding these birds.

Feeding swans is not recommended.

However, if you must feed them, you should aim to minimise the risk of harm:

• Completely avoid unhealthy (and potentially life-threatening) foodstuffs such as bread and other baked goods.
• Offer small portions of safer foods, and not everyday.
• Shredded lettuce, corn and peas are a safer option for vegetarian birds such as swans.
• Offer food in a way that minimises the risk of harm.
• Stop feeding if the swans are not eating food.

Download the ‘Swan Feeding’ information sheet.

Sources:

¹ Nagy, K.A., Girard, I.A., Brown, T.K. 1999. Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles and birds. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 19: 247-277

² Chapman R. & Jones D.N. (2009), Just Feeding the Ducks: Quantifying A Common Wildlife-Human Interaction, The Sunbird Vol 39 No. 2, 19-28.

³ Kear J. (1972), Notes on the nutrition of young waterfowl, with special reference to slipped-wing.

⁴ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-09/bird-deaths-avian-botulism/5377918

Should I offer backyard brushtail possums food?

Human food is not natural for brushtail possums and can make them sick. They normally eat leaves, flowers, fruits and insects. Eating other food can cause life threatening illnesses and obesity. Brushtail possums are relatively small compared to humans, so even small portions of human food can be very unhealthy for them.

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Brushtail possums fed by humans may become less capable and adaptable foragers and dependent on humans for food. This puts them at risk if the human feeder goes on holiday or moves away. The population density of brushtail possums around human food sources may become abnormally increased, which may lead to increased aggression and infection transmission, which may make local brushtail possums sick. Feeding brushtail possums may result in them losing their fear of humans, and as a result make them more vulnerable to abuse by other people.

Offering backyard brushtail possums food is not recommended.

If you choose to do this you should offer food in ways that minimises the risk of harm:

• Completely avoid unhealthy (and potentially life-threatening) food such as bread, cakes and biscuits, raw meat and cooked bones.  
  • Some food may cause life threatening illnesses.
  • Raw meat can give them parasites like Toxoplasma gondii. Cooked bones do not digest properly.
• Offer very small portions of safer foods, and not everyday.
  • Small pieces of fruit are the safest option for brushtail possums. Provide a small cube (1cm x 1cm x 1cm) every few days at the most.
  • Portion size is important! Large quantities of fruit can make possums sick.
• Offer food for possums at high locations, away from pets and foxes.
  • Place it on a tree branch or a feeding station set up in a tree.
  • Clean the feeding station regularly to prevent it becoming a source of disease.

What can I do instead to help brushtail possums living in my garden?

There are plenty of things you can do to assist brushtail possums living in your garden, to encourage their presence without the risk of causing them harm.

• Ensure they are safe from pets on your property
  • Keep cats indoors, or confined to outdoor enclosures.
  • Provide lots of “escape routes” for possums to get away from dogs – trees and sturdy trellis leading up to high walls and rooftops provide such routes.
• Grow vegetation that will provide natural food sources, like flowers and fruit, for brushtail possums.
• Provide waterproof nest box in trees on your property to provide nest sites for possums. Land for Wildlife recommends that they are placed 4m above the ground, facing south away from the sun, with nest material inside the box, and with a cockroach strip taped inside the nest box lid to prevent invasion by bees in spring.
• Avoid using poisons such as snail bait and rat bait – both of which can be fatal to brushtail possums.
  • If using snail baits, use iron EDTA (this may still make brushtail possums sick, but is less likely to cause death).
  • Use cages for the bait that allow access to snails but not brushtail possums.
• “Wildlife proof” ponds and pools.
  • Use pool covers.
  • Ensure there is an escape route if a possum falls in – e.g. bricks placed on the top step of a pool, or a sturdy stack of bricks onto which a possum can climb to get out of a pond.
• Do not remove possums from your property and release them elsewhere. This is illegal (Wildlife Conservation Act, 1950). Few brushtail possums survive after being moved in this way.

Download the ‘Feeding Brushtail Possums’ information sheet.

Source:

¹Nagy, K.A., Girard, I.A., Brown, T.K. 1999. Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles and birds. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 19: 247-277

Should I offer backyard honeyeaters food?

Offering backyard honeyeaters food is not recommended.

We are fortunate to have several species of honeyeater frequently visiting our gardens in Perth. These include the small brown honeyeaters, the larger New Holland and Singing Honeyeaters and the Red Wattlebird which is the largest honeyeater in Perth.² It is often tempting to provide food for these birds to encourage them to visit more often. However, feeding human food can lead to nutritional imbalances, increase the risk of disease and lead to a disruption in natural animal behaviour.

Nutritional imbalances

Human food is not natural for honeyeaters and can make them sick. A natural diet for these birds consists of nectar and pollen from native flowers and insects.¹ Food sources commonly offered to honeyeaters are sugary water, honey and jams, however these foods can lead to nutritional imbalances and life threatening complications. Honeyeaters may become dependent on these sugary foods and reduce their intake of natural food such as insects. A high sugar diet can be just as damaging to these birds as it is to humans.

These birds are also considerably smaller than humans so the amount of food supplied is often in excess of the required daily intake for these animals.

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Spread of disease

Feeding stations can attract numerous birds to the same area on a regular basis. Multiple birds eating and defecating in these small areas can greatly increase the risk of disease transmission.

Disrupting animal behaviour

A constant supply of ‘easy’ human food can disrupt the natural population density within an area. The larger Red Wattlebirds may out-compete many of the smaller honeyeaters for food and effectively force them out of the area.

What can I do instead to help honeyeaters living in my garden?

There are plenty of things you can do to encourage honeyeaters in your garden without the risk of causing harm.

• Ensure birds are safe from pets on your property.
  • Keep cats indoors, or contained within an outdoor enclosure.
• Avoid using plant and insect poisons, which can be fatal to birds – either by eating the poison, or by eating poisoned bugs. Additionally, killing insects will remove a food source for these birds.
• Plant plenty of native flowering shrubs local to your area. Banksia, Grevillea and Callistemon are often favoured by nectar-feeding birds but check with your nursery for appropriate local plants.

Feeding honeyeaters is not recommended.

However, if you must feed them you should aim to minimise the risk of harm:

•  Completely avoid unhealthy (and potentially life-threatening) foodstuffs such as bread (and other baked goods) and artificial sugary mixes such honey, jam, and sugar water.

• Offer very small portions of safer foods, and not everyday.
  • Provide good quality commerical nectar mixes.
• Offer food in ways that minmises the risk of harm.
  • Offer food at high locations, to avoid predation by cats and foxes.
  • Ensure the feeding station is routinely cleaned to prevent the spread of disease.

Download the ‘Honeyeater Feeding’ information sheet.

Sources:

¹ Nagy, K.A., Girard, I.A., Brown, T.K. 1999. Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles and birds. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 19: 247-277

² http://www.birdsinbackyards.net/birds/featured/Honeyeaters

Should I feed wild kangaroos and wallabies?

Offering wild kangaroos and wallabies food is not recommended.

It is not uncommon to see kangaroos and wallabies on the urban fringes of Perth. Areas that provide shelter, water and grass, such as outer suburban parks, golf courses and urban fringe bushland are suitable habitats for the urban dwelling macropod. These animals can become quite comfortable around humans and may be enticed to come close with food. However, by feeding native wildlife we may be doing more harm than good. Providing human food to native animals can lead to nutritional imbalances, increase the spread of disease and result in negative influences on animal behaviour.

Nutritional imbalances

Human food is not natural for kangaroos and wallabies and can make them sick. Kangaroos and wallabies are herbivores and will graze on grassland or browse native shrubs. Human food can cause nutritional imbalances in kangaroos and wallabies which may lead to obesity and other life threatening complications.

Bread is a popular choice to offer kangaroos and wallabies however it provides little of the nutritional requirements for these animals. In addition too much soft food can lead to a disease called Lumpy Jaw – a serious bacterial infection of the jaw.² Hay with hard stalks can also pierce the gums and allow the bacteria that cause Lumpy Jaw to invade.

Besides the lack of nutrition in human food, the amount given is also important. Wallabies in particular are much smaller than humans so even small portions of human food can be very unhealthy for them. Along with the associated health risks from a bad diet, overweight animals are less able to evade predators.

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Spread of disease

Providing a regular supply of artificial food can draw many animals into a single area which may promote the spread of disease. These areas can become highly contaminated with kangaroo faeces and grazing in these areas may lead to the increased transmission of many parasite species.

Disrupting natural behaviour

Feeding brings kangaroos and wallabies into close contact with people and possible conflict. Aggressive animals within the mob can pose a danger to people, especially families with young children. Losing their fear for humans may also make kangaroos and wallabies more vulnerable to abuse by other people.

We do not recommend feeding wild kangaroos and wallabies.

However, if you must feed them you should aim to minimise the risk of harm:

• Completely avoid unhealthy (and potentially life-threatening) foodstuffs such as bread and other baked goods.
• Offer long dry grass and hay (not stalky) or specific kangaroo pellets instead.
• Purchase kangaroo muesli, available from most stockfeeders.

Download ‘Kangaroo & Wallaby Feeding’ information sheet.

Download What to Grow in a Garden Visited by Kangaroos information sheet.

Sources:

¹ Nagy, K.A., Girard, I.A., Brown, T.K. 1999. Energetics of free-ranging mammals, reptiles and birds. Ann. Rev. Nutr. 19: 247-277

² Jackson, S. 2003. Australian mammals, biology and captive management. CSIRO publishing, Collingwood, Australia