Settled autumn weather has provided some good opportunities for backyard bird watchers in Dunedin and the Otago Daily Times asked Prof Robertson if there were any "dos and don’ts" when it came to the hobby.
Prof Robertson said sugar water feeders would attract tūī, bellbirds (korimako) and silvereyes (tauhou), and in some cases sparrows.
But he cautioned that the feeders should be cleaned regularly because they were a potential source of disease that could spread between birds that used such food sources.
"Having said that, many birds use those, sort of, centralised food sources anyway — like water in trees, little hollows in trees and that sort of thing," he said.
People could also put out seed to attract a range of different seed eaters, but not many New Zealand native species would take seed.
Instead, seed would bring in introduced species, such as greenfinches, sparrows, dunnocks, or goldfinches if people provided the right size seed.
Fans of fantails (pīwakawaka) might be out of luck if they tried to draw them to their yard.
"The only thing I can think of with fantails is if you had a compost heap and it had fruit in it.
"Because they’re insectivorous, so they take insects and they glean them off the foliage.
"The only way you can attract them to your yard really is if you have the right sort of vegetation, so plants.
"And so, if you don’t have those, you generally don’t get fantails unless they’re transiting through the area.
"It’s wherever the insects are attracted to, that’s where you’ll get fantails, especially this time of year."
At this time of year, juvenile fantails could be seen "hanging out in little groups".
Having birds in the yard could show you were providing a good habitat, he said.
