Publication Date
Fall 2025
Abstract
Increasing urbanization to prioritize habitats that are eucalypt dominant with poor understory density has resulted in an overabundance of the native honeyeater the Noisy Miner (Manorina melanocephala). Noisy Miners are incredibly aggressive, especially towards birds that are smaller than them. This is believed to have contributed to declining small bird populations in remnant woodland patches that are dominated by Noisy Miners. This same pattern was discovered in urban greenspaces across Sydney, Australia and Canberra, Australia during November 2025. Small birds were almost completely absent in sites in Sydney and small birds in Canberra had a strong negative correlation with the number of Noisy Miners. Sites in Sydney and Canberra that had small birds present typically had increased understory density and deceased percent of trees that were nectar-bearing. Small birds were able to be persist in small patches of dense understory, even if they were surrounded by patches of vegetation that were dominated by Noisy Miners. Prioritizing urban habitats for vegetative composition that discourages Noisy Miner dominance allows small bird populations to persist and experience less aggression from Noisy Miners.
Disciplines
Life Sciences
Recommended Citation
Hennes, Libby, "Urban Noisy Miner Populations and Vegetation Composition Hinders Small Bird Communities in Urban Sydney, Australia and Canberra, Australia" (2025). Australia: Rainforest, Reef, and Cultural Ecology. 11.
https://digitalcollections.sit.edu/ase2/11