The pest I’ll never forget: the wattle bird who dive-bombed me

To help native birds through the winter, I put out honey. It worked a treat until one chased the rest off – and then turned on me

The error took place last autumn when I offered honey to the nectar feeding birds in my neighbourhood in a bay-side suburb of Melbourne. Our grevilleas, which would normally attract them, hadn’t flowered, and my stopgap would hopefully see Australia’s native birds through the winter. With luck, magpies, pardalotes and ravens would discourage intrusion by an increasing population of common mynas – notorious for their aggressive displacement of native species.

It worked, at first. Wattle birds visited in greater numbers. One, whom we named Wally, aggressively saw off the mynas. He arrived wan and thin, and I watched him grow plump and hale.

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