The Willie Wagtail on the Cow: Permaculture Perspective

Posted by admin on Jun 17, 2010 in Permaculture | 0 comments

Early morning at Zaytuna farm had me watching a Willie Wagtail bird partnering up with a dairy cow as it darted back and forth off the cow’s back, swooping to the ground momentarily and then back onto the same spot on the cow grabbing the odd flying insect as the cow moves lazily around the property. A strange partnership that many dairy farmers would be aware of and nothing special to the casual observer. But how does a Permaculturalist look at these interactions.

As Geoff Lawton explains on the Permaculture Soils DVD, “Interaction between elements creates a symbiotic effect. So when you see the little Willie Wagtail partnering with a large animal thats also a domestic animal, riding on the cow’s back, the cow tolerates this little interaction because the Willie Wagtail operates around the cow, eating the flies, eating the insects that the cow creates as a wave of disturbance as it grazes across the landscape.” he said.

“The manures that attract flies are a benefit to the Willie Wagtail. The Willie Wagtail eats the insects and manures those as an inoculum to the soil.”

“The large cow eats the grass and turns that into a soil inoculum into a larger, cruder form. The two interact together.

The cow benefits by the pesticide effect -the fly-spray effect of the Willie Wagtail.

The Willie Wagtail benefits by the disturbance and the insect attracting food source of the cow.”

“They operate and cooperate together, symbiotically. They both improve the soil in very special ways.” said Geoff Lawton.
“We need to pay close attention to these natural cycles of interaction.”

The Soils DVD goes into a lot more depth on how you can stimulate natural micro biological cycles and build rich organic soils and grow quality healthy food.