Hi I’m Mele! And I’m Emma! We’re from Western Springs College and have recently started a project trying to stop the feeding of the birds.
As you may know this feeding is killing many native birds and causing serious illnesses, specifically avian botulism. This is a bacterial disease which is caused by a buildup of organic material in the water.
They can also develop a syndrome called angel wing, which is caused by poor nutrition. This results in the wings twisting unnaturally outwards rather than lying flat as they should. Another issue is that grain based foods can encourage a few introduced bird species to become really dominant and they can crowd out some of the native species.
What you shouldn’t feed the birds:
What you can feed them:
We learnt this at an Auckland Zoo kōrero we had with zoo educator Hōhepa. At this kōrero we learnt about Kaitiakitanga which means Guardianship and protection, which is a way to manage the environment. We also learnt about Manaakitanga which is a process of showing respect, generosity and care for others.
