If you think you've been doing your local parrot, lorikeet, kookaburra and magpie friends a favour by feeding them tasty treats, you're dead wrong.
NSW South Coast Wildlife Rescue bird coordinator Jenny Packwood said people who feed birds are killing, not helping, them.
"Rainbow lorikeets shouldn't be eating seed, but they've trained the humans to leave it out for them," she said.
"The black sunflower seeds are the worst things you can give to birds, they're like lollies. People feed magpies and kookaburras bacon, sausages, mince, cheese. It gets stuck in the top of their beaks and rots, or they die of calcium deficiency.
"We've had a lot of fledglings come in - they can hardly stand up because their legs are so weak. Because of the rubbish they're eating they're calcium deficient and they just curl up and die."
Ms Packwood said she had never had as many birds in care as this year. Last month she cared for 160, and this month is already up to 92. She said many people think the birds need help because of the summer bushfires, but that is untrue.
"There are thousands of insects now," she said. "It's past time to stop putting food out. It can train wildlife to come to the food area and they're predated on by foxes and cats.
"The parents need to train them how to catch and find food, or they won't survive."
She said feeding dishes were a hotbed of disease for native birds. For birds to be safely fed from a communal dish it would need to be washed several times a day.
What bird lovers can do to support their feathered friend is put out water dishes in safe, shaded spots.
Choose dishes of different depths, and clean them daily.
Mobile speed camera signs to go
SIGNS warning NSW drivers about mobile speed cameras are being scrapped and harsher penalties will apply to anyone caught drink and drug-driving.
Transport Minister Andrew Constance said the speed camera signs will go over the next 12 months.
"This is about changing culture and changing behaviour," he said this week.
"We've seen it happen with our world-leading mobile phone detection program, where the rate of people offending has steadily declined.
"No warning signs mean you can be caught anywhere, anytime and we want that same culture around mobile speed cameras," he said.
Last year, 136 people in NSW lost their lives and 2941 were injured due to speeding motorists. This year, 275 people have been killed on NSW roads compared to 314 at the same time last year.
Labor's John Graham accused the government of trying to raise revenue.
"It's a budget measure. We know that fine revenue will leap by about a third as a result of this single measure," he told ABC radio.
