Defences against miner birds

[jusdeb]

What sort of Mynahs ?

[Clawd]

Noisy.

Sadly, no rat traps at Bunnings and the bird net is white.

[Tintola]

Time to clear up the confusion on names. Indian or common "Mynahs" are not native and are feral, belonging to the starling family. Noisy "Miners" ( note the spelling difference)are native (protected by law) and are part of the honey-eater family. Indian "Mynahs" never harass aviary birds but will compete very successfully for hollows to nest in with native birds. Native noisy "Miners" are very territorial and try to evict all small birds from their territory, as they see these as competition for food (Nectar, insects etc) They are the noisy " Miners " that are the problem with aviary birds.

[jusdeb]

Had the spelling wrong ooops .

Yes the natives( grey / silver with yellow facial markings) will gather in numbers here and do a full sweep of the aviary's in an attempt to catch a bird on either end of the wire walls ,where they pull them through the wire if possible.

The starling type ones(brown) we had in Windsor were more of a scavenger and roof invader than a predator( dont have them here yet) .....thus I ask what type of mynah / miner just to clarify if it is a native bird being trapped in rat traps.

[Tintola]

My guess is that it's the natives that are being killed. In the words of Sargeant Schultz "I know Nothiiiiing"

[jusdeb]

Oh dear ....

[MadHatter]

I have to protest in the strongest terms against the use of rat traps to control Noisy Miners. Controlling ferals such as Common Mynahs in this manner is one thing (not that I'm even entirely comfortable with that idea) but when it comes to native species it's not only illegal, its totally inethical. We should remember that it is we who have invaded their territory. To then persecute them because their natural behavior interferes with our activities is, in my opinion, unjustified.
I appreciate that it is difficult, especially when you have suffered stock losses, but please restrict your efforts to discourage them to non-lethal methods only.

[Clawd]

An interesting debate.

Should a practise's acceptability be determined by the vermin/target? A parallel argument is torture - is it right or wrong? Does the end justify the means? I think that the answer often depends on who is asking.

People are more than happy to kill a mouse or rat and not give it another thought but a rat trap is in your face, unpleasant and violent, whilst poison is 'discrete' and private.

The relocation of bats from the Botanic Gardens in Sydney is another case - many people have protested and taken legal action that it is wrong and cruel. The bats are natives. Others would be more than happy to see them destroyed. The relocation is approved - it may or may not work but regardless, bats will die.

CITES is supposed to protect birds, animals and plants. With respect to orchids, the outcome in parts of Asia is that plants are to be destroyed during clearing for timber or palm oil and not collected because that would be wrong. Meanwhile, there is a healthy black market and the forests get destroyed.

This week I was talking to someone who noted that a past neighbour (from quite a few years ago) used to keep 'dangerous' dogs which at times were poisoned somehow. That is not nice but ... dog or safety? Too often in the News there are stories of people being hurt by certain dog breeds.

There is quite a bit of research into miners and the stronghold they are developing as a result of man's intervention. What exists now is not 'natural' - man has created and expanded the bird's territory. This is one of the reason finches, wrens and other small birds are rarely seen in areas such as where I live - though there are plenty of red brow in the bush nearby.

The 'first here' argument also gets a bit of airtime re aboriginals.

Culling of miner's (whilst not permitted) is in my opinion no better or worse than culling of, say, Roos - also native. Whether it is ethical or not, I don't know.

The first step, however, is prevention.

As a matter of interest, Haverford Pty Limited supply netting and have this photo on their website.

Regards

Clawd

[Ab's Finches]

I just keep a rubber snake on top of the aviary seems to work fine, never seen a bird land on top before, now in the aviary itself. you might need more than one depending on you aviary size of course.

[jusdeb]

The rubber snake on my aviary is as useless as you know whats on a you know what . The birds land on it .

Must be smart or dumb wild birds here in Dubbo .