27 October 2008

The Indian Myna Birds Are Taking Over

| tylersmayhem
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I’m a relatively new resident of Flynn, and one of the many draws of our property was the abundance of wildlife, including many beautiful native birds. From the day we first saw our property, there were rainbow lorrikeets, king parrots, rosella’s, galah’s and cockatoo’s to name a few. Spotted in there was the occasional Indian Myna, but their visits were few and we always shooed them away.

Last week, I realised that I had not seen any of the usual amazing bunch of birds – but only had seen some native Pigeons, Magpies, Currawongs…and mostly Indian Myna birds. The rest are gone! Then there was a Galah perched up in a tree in our yard. It was acting very distraugt and I went looking for the cause (another dead Galah for instance). I couldn’t find anything of alarm. I jumped on the trusty old Web to do some investigating. I quickly came across the following site:

http://www.indianmynaaction.org.au

I’m quickly coming to the realisation that these Myna Birds have cleared out all the native birds from our surroundings, and pretty much have all the tree’s surrounded. They perch in the tree’s and continually chirp to keep the other birds away. I noticed over the weekend that the local family of Galah’s have been kicked out of their nest inside a tree, and Myna’s have taken over 🙁

I have been in contact with the group acossiated with the link, and they recommend trapping the birds and getting the RSPCA to euthanise them for free.

I never realised these birds cause so much havoc, and it’s really disappointing to have all the beautiful birds gone! I figure the more education out there the better. Has anyone else had these problems, and any success removing them from your neighborhood?

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rosscoact said :

dungfungus said :

I have got rid of the Indian Mynas in my patch by pointing a laser at them.
If there are two birds side by side in a tree and the laser beam is showing on one, the other one attacks it and they fly away.
After a couple of times they don’t come back.
The laser I was using was a cheap one from Bunnings that is used for marking levels on floors etc.
No animals were harmed in formulating this advice.

I’ll be blowed! I did not know that this would work. Good stuff and hours of fun too.

Is this a permanent thing or do you have to start again after a while?

I only had to “zap” them a few days in a row and they got the message.
I hope the bleeding hearts on this blog note that I didn’t have to kill them.

metalblue said :

Is their behaviour learnt or is it in their DNA?

Would teaching the Myna birds instead of killing them be feasible?

Trying to de-radicalise Indian Mynas would be like trying to heard cats.

Is their behaviour learnt or is it in their DNA?

Would teaching the Myna birds instead of killing them be feasible?

dungfungus said :

I have got rid of the Indian Mynas in my patch by pointing a laser at them.
If there are two birds side by side in a tree and the laser beam is showing on one, the other one attacks it and they fly away.
After a couple of times they don’t come back.
The laser I was using was a cheap one from Bunnings that is used for marking levels on floors etc.
No animals were harmed in formulating this advice.

I’ll be blowed! I did not know that this would work. Good stuff and hours of fun too.

Is this a permanent thing or do you have to start again after a while?

They are horrible birds. I once saw a flock of them attack a cat – buzzing it till it fled under a car. They are fearless, and chase all but the largest birds from their territory.

The only exception I’ve ever seen are crested pigeons. I have a couple of families that regularly visit my yard, and they just ignore the mynahs, which never actually attack, just harass. After a while, the mynahs give up and leave them alone.

They are bullies and cowards, though. I started throwing stones at them every time they alighted in my yard, and they soon moved on.

There used to be a program run by some agency or organisation whereby you could get traps and hand them over to be destroyed. Does anyone know if it still exists?

I have got rid of the Indian Mynas in my patch by pointing a laser at them.
If there are two birds side by side in a tree and the laser beam is showing on one, the other one attacks it and they fly away.
After a couple of times they don’t come back.
The laser I was using was a cheap one from Bunnings that is used for marking levels on floors etc.
No animals were harmed in formulating this advice.

wildturkeycanoe6:40 am 16 May 15

We had Myna birds invading our yard and eating the chicken food and even from our dog’s bowl. After finding instructions from the internet, I spent around $20 or so and built my own Myna trap. For the first few months it sat in the yard growing grass through the bottom. After relocating my chicken coop, the trap was also moved and I accidentally dropped some day-old bread in through the holes in the top. Next morning I had caught my first Myna. For some months I had been successful in eliminating any sight of the nasty things, until recently when I saw another group of almost twenty birds gathering above the chook house. Time to start baiting the trap again.
It is peculiar that if you leave a bird in the trap for the day instead of removing one immediately, the noise they make actually attracts more of them to go inside the trap, my record is four in one day. I have even caught them without having any bait whatsoever. Unfortunately the trap is extremely effective at catching little sparrows and such too, but they are easily let free and often get out through the holes which are small enough to prevent Mynas escaping.
These birds are indeed a very invasive species and need to be culled to extinction. Not only that but they and the little sparrows are costing me a heap in chicken feed. No matter how many traps there are in the community, I fear it is a problem nobody can overcome just like rabbits, foxes, feral pigs etc. The numbers are too great and effective methods are illegal [Give every teenage boy an air rifle and the problem would be gone in a matter of hours]. Trapping needs to be done on a more industrial scale. The backyard volunteers might only clear a neighborhood temporarily because the strongholds like shopping precincts harbor thousands of them with an infinite food supply.
I encourage anyone who is interested to build or buy a trap and start helping to reduce the numbers of this ugly, yet very smart, bird. The future of our native species depends on it, as they have no means to defend themselves or their nests.

Despite what you may think, God our Creator, created all birds to live in harmony and in His balance without human interference, hence, the Myna birds have been residing in my roof (the generations of the original family of myna birds) for 25 years without damaging the roof space at all, without noise and without any problem encountered.

Daily the magpies, galahs, cockatoos, pidgeons and pluvvers all visit the backyard, eating in harmony.

It is cruel to kill/destroy God’s wildlife and the mercy and compassion we have in our hearts to all people and His creatures, is the same mercy and compassion God gives us in His judgement.

All the best.

Hi, I have been trapping Myna Birds in Cairns F.N.Q. for about 3 years and at the start had mixed results. All the Native Birds had gone from around my property and Myna Birds were nesting in buildings in the area. It appears they don’t like nesting in trees as native birds do. I have finally removed them with a Trap built by the local “‘Mens Shed””. At first I didn’t get many until I put Mirrors opposite the two Entrances so when they got to the entrance they would see another Myna and go into the Trap. I have also found that they are attracted to red so I dyed some rice red and mixed it with crushed cracker biscuits. I have removed all the Mynas in the area and the native birds are all back which is very rewarding. I hope this helps others to do the same and once again enjoy our native birds. Regards. Laurie Hardie.

Sling shot.
Haven’t had one around for ages and even if they see mee in the neighbourhood they fly away straightaway. Too fricken smart they are too. Anything that’ll get rid of them is ok in my book.

I had a mate do his honours thesis on gasing these pests as they slept.

I signed up for a myna trap while visiting the Belco community fair earlier this month.

I’d always had half a mind to join the action group, but seeing one of the blokes who runs the group sitting at his stall clinched it.

Good on him – and the rest of the group – for showing dedication. The stall wasn’t in the best position, but I believe he still managed to get a few more people to join.

Apparently there’s quite a backlog of people waiting for traps so I’ll have to just be patient before I get mine in a month or two.

today i saw 3 or 4 indian mynas take over the nest of another bird (not and indian myna) by throwing out the 3 young chicks (in stage of developing feathers) which lived in the nest and later died, pretty nasty.

ChrisinTurner7:07 am 28 Oct 08

See details here on myna traps http://www.indianmynaaction.org.au/

They do work.

One of the local bird watching clubs are running the myna catch and kill program – my dad has been borrowing a trap every other month to knock off a few. As stated above, you do need to provide food (to catch the buggers), plus water and check the trap regularly.

I am quite against guns, but I reckon relaxing the laws for air rifles might help with the eradicating the mynas – a good head shot would take them out.

I’m pretty sure there are none of these mynahs out here. I put seed out daily (and the big bags of wild seed have gone up at coles! It’s almost 10 bucks a bag now), and the mags and cockies come and look at me through the windows if I don’t. They have battles over the seed but I think cockies and mags go for different seeds in the mix. The galahs and rosellas have stand-offs, the Choughs turn up in a gang and have a go, and the little birds come when everyone’s gone and clear up the scraps.

On sundays when I cook the week’s lunch stew, the Kookas turn up and wait for the fat I prune off the meat and toss out for them. There’s some noisy little birds going around in the vines, but they don’t seem interested in the seed, so I guess they eat flowers or something.

tylersmayhem8:29 pm 27 Oct 08

Anyone setting traps must ensure basics of humane treatment are covered. There must be water available (especially coming into hot weather) and you must check it at least twice a day. Animals and birds can quickly stress out in traps. If you aren’t prepared to check regularly, then don’t set traps.

I agree Al -100%!

Felix the Cat8:21 pm 27 Oct 08

Buy some Parrot/wild bird seed from Woolies next time you do the grocery shopping. You can get different sized bags starting from about $3, put a bit out every couple of days or so and the Cockatoos and other native birds will return. I have a Koppers log standing upright in my garden with an old steel hubcap (circa 1967 Holden…) nailed on the top as a birdfeeder so the birds can get a feed without having to worry about cats.

Gungahlin Al6:59 pm 27 Oct 08

Anyone setting traps must ensure basics of humane treatment are covered. There must be water available (especially coming into hot weather) and you must check it at least twice a day. Animals and birds can quickly stress out in traps. If you aren’t prepared to check regularly, then don’t set traps.

I built one of the myna traps, and being a bit wary of setting it up at home with our dogs, took it to work. Set it up on the ground next to the workshop, with some dry dog food as bait.

Didn’t check for some time, to be horrified that I had managed to snare a blue-tongued lizard. This poor unfortunate had strangled itself trying to get out.

I lost interest, but may get a bit more enthusiastic in the near future. They are a bastard of a bird.

If you have a look at the trap design on the Indian Myna Action Group site, you will see that they are specifically designed to trap mynas rather than other birds attracted to dog food (because of the size difference in the birds).

The trap doesn’t kill them either, so any other birds that happen to be trapped can be released immediately.

Are you suggesting killing magpies?

I believe that ant was warning that Magpies might be caught in the same traps, and that it would be a bad thing.

While we’re talking birds does anyone know of a way to attract the crimson lorikeets and king parrots without getting galahs, cockatoos and corellas?

Do the lorikeets and parrots clear out of Canberra backyards in spring and summer or should I be taking this personally?

ant said :

Magpies like dog biscuits too remember. My dog has ongoing fights with the magpies who steal his biscuits (and his bones).

Are you suggesting killing magpies?

Killing Indian Mynahs I have no problem with, but killing magpies is another thing altogether.

tylersmayhem4:10 pm 27 Oct 08

Does anyone know if they are just in peak season, and will go away in the Autumn? Or are they here to stay?

Gungahlin Al4:05 pm 27 Oct 08

Rat’s: fnaah has beat me to it.

On mynas, you can hang a flap a little out from nesting hollows. My understanding is that mynas will only nest where they have a straight flight in and clear view out, while parrots can come in from the side.

Too late in the season now, but note for summer after nests empty.

Took a (crappy phone camera) picture of a rosella nesting in a drain outlet high on the wall above the Gungahlin Post Office the other day. Be a bugger if it rains.

what with crows & mynas, the local magpies, wattle birds and currawongs are having a lot of thumping practice. no time for humans…

They’re everywhere! Even right under your nose!

fnaah said :

The only things outnumbering Indian Mynas in Canberra, it seems, are misplaced apostrophes.

All distributed between 2 signs?

The only things outnumbering Indian Mynas in Canberra, it seems, are misplaced apostrophes.

We hand feed a couple of Magpies that have a nest somehwere near our house, and it seems in return for a good feed they don’t swoop us, and they keep our area free from Myna birds.

tylersmayhem3:26 pm 27 Oct 08

Yeah, I gotta say that I wouldn’t consider using a rat trap. Too much risk of trapping one of the good guys.

@Boodnut: do you know if since the guy you know has been trapping them, if any of the native birds have returned?

Magpies like dog biscuits too remember. My dog has ongoing fights with the magpies who steal his biscuits (and his bones).

They are certainly a problem. I believe that group has been running a trial eradication program, not sure though. I do know that dog food (think meaty bites) on rat traps make for a good Indian Myna bird trap. The other (native birds) never seem to go near them, but it kills a lot of Mynas.

i have amate downthe road in Melbawho regularly traps and humanely destroys them. obviously even with his good work they still pack a punch…

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