November
2003
November
2003
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November 2003 Kasanka And The Case Of The Movious Bats
Regulars
News From Around Zambia
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Attracting The
Birds … The Feathered Type
Last month I wrote about attracting birds to your garden and promised a list of the types of plants. But it is not only plants. Insects also attract birds. Sadly there is no formula to attract insects to your garden, but having flowering plants does help and those with a stronger smell are more likely to attract insects. Plants with soft fruits also help. An example is the fig tree which attracts fruitflies, which in turn attracts flyeaters. Edible foliage brings caterpillars, butterfly larvae and these bring the birds. Trees with rough bark provide secure hiding places for insects which are searched out by the woodpeckers, wood hoopoes, barbets etc. Termite mounds also attract great numbers of birds during the rains as the flying ants learn. Leaf litter on the ground under trees is visited by robins and thrushes. Flowering trees and shrubs provide nectar as a reward for pollination. Insect pollinated flowers are often white or blue. Birds are usually attracted to red and orange flowers and bird-pollinated flowers produce a succession of florets thus attracting the birds over a period of time. Numerous fruit trees and shrubs also need the birds to disperse the seeds and the bird’s gift for doing this job is fleshy fruits. Often these fruits are red or shiny black and small and sweet – snacks for the birds. Larger fruits are frequently green or dull when mature and many will have a bitter taste for humans but they contain a balanced diet for the larger frugivores such as parrots and louries. So plant a variety of fruit trees to attract a broad spectrum of fruit-eating birds. Nesting trees are also needed for the birds. Ideally these should be spiney to help stop predators. Thicket type vegetation for ground nesters is also necessary but cats can be a danger to those birds. Tree-hole nesters need soft wooded trees and pieces of firewood are ideal for this. However, these can be a bit of an eyesore in the garden, so leave dead branches on your trees and very soon hole-nesters will have taken up residence. Artificial nest boxes can also help if you don’t have any dead branches on your trees. If you are hoping to attract birds to your gardens, then the use of chemicals is a no-no as it kills the bugs on which the birds feed. The author of our monthly column is a horticulturalist who can be contacted on email at pete@kantemba.com or by phone on 096 747-990 for any of your gardening queries.
Suggested Plants Aloes, all species Canna Cestrum, all species Crocosmia Cuphea (Cigar bush) Hamelia (Fire bush) Holmskoidia (Chinese Hat plant) Hypoestes (Ribbon bush) Justica (Prune flower) Jachroma (Blue cestrum) Kalmia (Sheeplaurel) Kniphofia (Redhot poker) Leonitis (Honeysuckle) Monarda Protea (Sugarbush) Pyrostegia (Golden shower) Russelia (Coral bush) Salvia, all species Streptosolor (Marmalade bush) Techoma (Yellow elder) Techomaria (Cape honeysuckle) Watsonia Yucca Bottlebrush Gravillia (Silky oak) Erithrina (Coral tree) Ficus (Fig trees), all species |
