The local birdlife need a rainforest to remain here

What really annoys me the most about some of the local birdlife is they come begging for food from me. I generally don't give them food but only when they are desperate do I feed them. What the birds really need in Tenterfield is an abundant supply of food. If they had more than enough food they wouldn't come begging for food from me or anyone else.

This is where my patience with birds runs a bit thin. I can't always afford to feed them every time they beg for food. I can't always give them what they want. What these begging birds need, especially the Australian Magpies and Red Wattlebird is a rainforest in their back yard. There is simply not enough nectar around for the Red Wattlebirds and other honeyeaters to feed on, nor is their enough insects around for the Australian Magpies to feast on. Insects and nectar is becoming even more scarce in Tenterfield than previous years. This is because the rain is not consistent and as a result the plants are not producing enough flowers to produce a sustainable amount of nectar. Insects are simply dieing off because there is nowhere for them to be fruitful and multiply.

It is a crying shame that Tenterfield severely lacks food plants for the birdlife. People here do not seem to be concerned about the bird population or that the birds are leaving town in large numbers. People seem content to continue mowing their lawns or grazing their domesticated animals in empty paddocks.

Tenterfield could easily become a rainforest area that is full of life rather than mostly devoid of it. The potential is there for a rainforest habitat. You only have to walk around town and look at the moss and lichen all over the place, on the ground, covering the trees, even growing on power lines and trees. The moisture exists but it is just not concentrated anywhere to create a rainforest habitat as the humidity escapes all the time. So Tenterfield dries out and the moss and lichen dry out too.

I thought it would be difficult to create a rainforest in Tenterfield but really a rainforest would actually work here. And I believe a rainforest would actually florish in town. The only thing that would ruin a rainforest here is the strong westerly and south-westerly winds we receive. If those areas can be blocked off by dense trees and shrubs a rainforest would easily thrive here.

So, what local plants could be used to block off these strong winds that Tenterfield receives? Well, one could use thick stands of Bottlebrushes; Jasmine; Melaleucas; Grevilleas; as well as plants local like this:

I don't know what it's called but the bigger
bush in the center of the picture can fill gaps.

A stand of various sized shrubs can create
a dense wind break if planted next to each other.

Look at the bush in the far left corner. Don't
know what it is but its in Bruzner Park.

A bush out front of my brother's Flat. Don't
know what it is but it is always pruned heavily.

Having a variety of different plants to use helps too as a rainforest contains lots of different plant species. They contain trees, shrubs, vines, climbing plants, ferns, palms, orchids, and lots more. Of course, there are also many different types of rainforests in Australia, but creating one with everything in it can't be that hard.

The point to all of this is by adding a variety of flora to just one small paddock can and will create the environment birds need to thrive in. Even though Australian Magpies don't actually live in rainforests these birds are adaptive and will go to where a new source of food is. If it contains more insects in the ground than anywhere else, they will go there all the time, especially if the insect population in the ground is thriving and multiplying despite it being a drought. If you create open areas on the ground where the Magpies can walk through comfortably they will enter the rainforest and forage for food. Magpies just need a bit of walking space that's all. So creating walking paths is just as good for humans as it is for Magpies, as long as the paths are natural and not made of bricks or concrete.