Australian people do many bizarre things. We really do. When you put us under the microscope, we’re a very odd county. Being in the thick of these oddities can make it hard to pinpoint exactly what they are.
Rest assured: people around the world would be very alarmed by our penchant for going to the grocery store barefooted. And, If we’re being completely honest, many foreigners would view wearing thongs to university as the worst of all the fashion crimes. But not in Australia, mate.
As it turns out, one of our more hardcore habits is our addiction to feeding wild birds. Rainbow Lorikeets, Ducks, Kookaburras, Pigeons, Galahs and Cockatoos. You name a bird and you best believe us Aussies will stuff it silly with bread, crackers, mince, fruit and seed. We won’t stop at anything.
Urban ecologist, Darryl Jones, recently told the ABC the stats reveal around 40-55% of Australian households feed our avian friends. So yes, apparently everyone has that neighbour whose house, come evening, looks like a bird show at Taronga Zoo.
Why on earth do we do this? Behold, the theories:
The ‘Empty- Nester’ Crisis
Many parents are left with a big, gaping hole when the kids move out of home. That chunk of their identity tied to being a ‘carer’ is placed under threat. Naturally, they start feeding the lorikeets and soon enough, all 27 of them have a name.
The Elderly Crisis
Ok, can we really blame old people for bonding with cockatoos? Their friends are no longer with them, their kids are too shitty to visit and therefore they create a sense purpose by feeing birds.
The Desk Job Crisis
These people have worked indoors for a long, long time. They’re life probably starts to feel so artificial they derive pleasure from getting up close and personal with nature.
Above all these theories is this plain and simple fact: birds are literally everywhere in Australia and so the line between animal and human is often blurred. It’s no wonder we see them as one of us.
But, really, we’ve got to start being a bit more careful when it comes to bird feeding. Don’t feed magpies mince, do your research on what to feed your avian friends and clean your darn feeding trays, Jones advised the ABC.
Other than that, let-live to Australia’s weird bird-feeding obsession. It makes us, us.