Plants for Wildlife

Some garden action underway between young Macleay’s Honeyeaters.

Bring food plants for birds, bees, butterflies and other creatures into your garden for more wildlife action.

Below are some examples of our local wildlife as well as the native plants that attract them into your area. Planting more native flora helps lure a wider range of fauna to come in. Plant me instead gives advice on why planting native plants rather than non-natives is a wise garden choice.

Kuranda Conservation Community Nursery stocks a wide range of low-priced native plants and offers free advice about them. So adding some of these to your garden helps sustain healthy populations of fauna and their flora. It also creates a wonderful relaxing retreat. Plant and enjoy!

Almost all birds eat a wide range of the foods offered by flora, and cassowaries eat practically all fruit. However some creatures depend upon a more limited range or even a single plant. Many depend on the insects and they in turn use flora of all kinds as food sources.

Each row features a particular native plant suitable for our area and some of the wildlife using the plant as a food source. Click on a photo to see more details of the plant or animal.

: Rainforest treats

: Cassowaries are great rainforest gardeners.

: Casso scat containing a variety of seeds

: Adenia vine

: Red Lacewing

: Female Cruiser butterfly,.

: Food for cassowaries

: Female Victoria’s Riflebird

: Juvenile Victoria’s Riflebird

: Blue Quandong

: Musky Rat Kangaroo

: Melicope elleryana

: Lorikeets feeding on Melicope elleryana.

: Leea indica

: Spotted Catbirds, and many other fauna, like Leea indica berries.

: Male Victoria’s Riflebird

: Many insects and birds enjoy Callistemon nectar.

: Cairns Birdwing resting on Callistemon.

: Brown Honeyeater likes Callistemon nectar.

: Syzigium wilsonii flowers attract nectar-loving wildlife.

: Syzigium wilsonii attracts lots of wildlife.

: Syzigium wilsonii

For additional information read Wet Tropics Management Authority page Introducing plants and animals of the Wet Tropics

Photos are by Kuranda Conservation members Diane Daniels and Lorraine Harris, with additional photos from Graham Bell. This page is a work in progress!