By: Michael Fox

Looking for Christmas gift ideas for others or for yourself?

Two excellent books I have read this year are Habitat by AB Bishop and Feeding the Birds at Your Table by Darryl Jones.

Habitat: A practical guide to creating a wildlife-friendly Australia gardens – AB Bishop

AB Bishop, horticulturist and presenter on Gardening Australia, has produced a well written guide with easy to action information on how to bring Birds, Butterflies and Bees back to our urban habitats. Importantly this is not simply a DIY guide, AB also underpins the action steps with accessible detail of the science and terminology.

I particularly liked the Plant Directory section that started with a climate zone map followed by a beautifully presented plant guide that will inform and inspire your garden planting.

If your gift is for a gardener in South East Queensland the Griffith University GroNative app. (iPhone/Google Play) will be an excellent complement to the book.

Feeding the Birds at Your Table: A Guide for Australia – Darryl Jones

Buying a gift for family or friend who loves to feed birds in their backyards?

Griffith University’s Darryl Jones book disperses many myths about feeding our Australian birds and provides practical information on feeding.

If you are feeding our 2017 Bird of the Year the Australian Magpie, drop the mince or salami junk food which are not a suitable substitute for the bird’s natural diet, even commercial pet food made for dogs and cats is a surprising better option.

Love to feed birds in your backyard? Contribute to our knowledge of birds in our urban habitats with iNaturalist app. All the data you collect will add to the knowledge base of Atlas of Living Australia.