As H5N1 avian influenza advances through Australia's wild bird populations and arrives quietly on New Zealand's shores, a familiar gesture of care — the backyard bird feeder — has become a point of vulnerability. Two confirmed cases have prompted New Zealand authorities to ask the public to reconsider habits long associated with nurturing nature, recognising that dense congregation, however well-intentioned, can accelerate the very harm people seek to prevent. The response being asked of ordinary citizens is not panic, but a thoughtful shift: from feeding birds to restoring the habitat that su