We’ve had eastern spinebills in our garden for a couple of months. They enjoy salvias, grevilleas and other flowers. They usually go when these flowers finish. Are they migrants?
K.H., Eureka.
Eastern spinebills will appear almost wherever and whenever there is sufficient food in the form of nectar in tubular flowers. When flowers finish, the spinebills go.
Spinebills can be found in the Ballarat district all year, but most gardens have them for only a few months. It depends on the availability of nectar. Some gardens attract spinebills every month of the year, but most do not.
They occur in native forests, although they tend to be regarded as garden birds. Correas and heath attract them to forests. In gardens, fuchsias and red-hot pokers are also attractive.
- Questions and photos are welcome. Send to Roger Thomas at The Courier, PO Box 21, Ballarat, 3353, or email rthomas@vic.australis.com.au
