By Danielle Galvin
RESIDENTS who have noticed an influx of Indian Mynah birds are not alone, the introduced pests are making themselves at home in gardens, around schools and out the front of shopping centres.
Alison Livermore from Nar Nar Goon North noticed that the birds had set up camp in her neighbourhood, and she wanted something done about it.
Alison works for the Cardinia Environmental Coalition, and she had heard about Shane Simmons, who had been working on the Western Port Ramsar site eradicating Indian Myna birds. Alison spoke to five of her neighbours, and all had noticed the birds.
“They are so aggressive and it’s only been over the past 12 months that I’ve seen them,” Alison said.
Shelli Knight, Alison’s neighbour, was thankful that someone started doing something about the pests.
“The damage to the Australian bush is huge and if it wasn’t for Alison, I wouldn’t have known about the traps,” Shelli explained.
Indian Myna birds are known for chasing away native wildlife, taking over nesting hollows and disrupting the breeding habits of Australian birds.
Shane Simmons came to Shelli’s property to set up traps. On the first day, Shane caught 70 of the birds. On Shelli’s property alone, Shane has trapped and gassed between 600 and 700 of the birds.
“We want landowners to know that if the birds have a food source, like an open feeding stall, they will come back and take over,” Shelli explained.
Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra have become popular breeding grounds for the birds.
Alison and Shelli are happy that native birds have started returning to their backyards.
“I love seeing the colour back in my garden, and listening to the native birds singing is wonderful,” Shelli said.
Alison wants landowners in the shire who have noticed the pests to band together and set up traps.
“We want to get schools and the council on board because it makes a big difference when you have a number of properties working together to get rid of them,” Alison said.
Shelli explains that Shane is very careful about disposing of the birds humanely.
“He wanted to make sure that the birds were treated with respect and didn’t suffer,” she said.
The RSPCA has set guidelines for gassing the Indian Mynah birds.
“I love animals but they are such a pest that we had to do something about. Other people who have noticed them should look into setting up traps, they are just such a pest,” Shelli explained.
