Feed the birds: stop the demonising and tell us how to do it properly

It's maligned in Australia but if some simple rules are observed, bird feeding is a great way to connect with the wild world

• Vote in the Australian bird of the year poll 2017

There's a sulphur-crested cockatoo that visits my balcony daily. She lives in a hollow tree nearby, and every day at around 7.30am, she flutters up to the railing outside the living room windows of my third-floor apartment. She lets out a polite, low croak to let me know she's there, and I come out and give her a handful of birdseed.

Interacting with birds is really good for us, mentally and physically.