If your centre has bird feeders with bird seed, you may have noticed that the birds visiting are mostly sparrows, starlings, mynahs, and blackbirds. That is because bird seed attracts introduced species, not native ones.
Aotearoa's native birds eat nectar, fruit, foliage, and insects. They do not eat seed. You can even see this in the shape of their beaks: sparrows and finches have triangular beaks designed for cracking seeds, while tui and bellbirds have slender curved beaks built for sipping nectar from flowers. When we put out bird seed, we are feeding the introduced species that compete with our native birds for space and habitat.
The good news is that attracting native birds like tui, korimako (bellbirds), and tauhou (silvereye) is simple. You make sugar water nectar and put it in the right feeder.
Dissolve half a cup of white sugar in one litre of warm water. Stir until fully dissolved, then let it cool completely before filling your feeder. That is it.
A few important things to keep in mind:
Use plain white sugar only. Do not use raw sugar, organic sugar, honey, or brown sugar. These contain trace minerals that can be toxic to birds, or can promote dangerous fungal growth.
Extra nectar can be stored in the fridge in an airtight jar for five to seven days.
Feeder design matters. Research from the University of Auckland found that feeders specifically designed for nectar-eating species were the most successful at attracting native birds. These feeders have small feeding holes tailored for the fine, tapered beaks of tui, bellbirds, and silvereyes, which means short-billed introduced species like sparrows cannot access the nectar.
Auckland Zoo shares a simple feeder that tamariki can help make. Take a one litre plastic milk bottle and sit it in a shallow dish or saucer. Make two to three very small holes about half a centimetre from the bottom of the bottle. This allows the sugar solution to flow out to the height of the holes. Fill the bottle with cooled nectar, screw the lid on tightly, and place it on a flat surface like an outdoor table or shelf in a spot where cats cannot reach. You do not need to fill the whole bottle. Only put in what the birds will drink in a couple of days and replace it fresh, as nectar left too long can ferment and become harmful. Note that this feeder is not designed for hanging.
If you want to hang a feeder from a tree or branch, a purpose-built nectar feeder is the better choice. The Topflite Nectar Feeder (available at Animates, around $42) is designed for NZ native birds with a red base that mimics native flowers, small feeding holes for fine beaks, a bee guard, and a dishwasher-safe glass bottle. Other NZ-made options are available online.
Whichever feeder you use, place it high and out of reach of cats, ideally near native trees or shrubs.
This is important. Wash your feeder thoroughly every two to three days, especially in warm weather. Only put out as much nectar as the birds will drink in a day to keep it fresh. Dirty feeders can spread disease among bird populations.
Making nectar and setting up a feeder is a wonderful real experience for tamariki. They can measure the sugar, stir the water, help make the feeder, choose where to place it, and then observe which birds come to visit. This is kaitiakitanga in action: a simple, everyday way of caring for the native birds in your environment.
Over time, tamariki will start to recognise which birds are visiting. That is subject knowledge building naturally, for children and kaiako alike.
