Mynahs are rapidly building up in numbers in the area I live. I am recieving phone calls on a regular basis about these birds. One resident told me he'd just watched the "flying **** bags": (quote from Matthew Flinders Cat- Bryce Courtney novel) evict a nesting pair of eastern rosellas. Im getting a little frustrated telling people that the group of regional councils are fact finding and developing a plan. Land holders who care want action now! Many dont have guns, has anyone got a humane control measure for these birds that can be implemented by a farmer or landholder with minimal cost.
I watched with interest some, what I thought to be sustainible logging in a heavily forrested area. Looked good but what I didnt notice was that the shrub layer got knocked around and guess whats moved in since the country has been made more open. :?? Oh and the Little Glossey Black cockatoos that lived on that property are now safe and sound in the forest on our block. They had the sence to move out before the invasion.
Mynahs
If only there was a little icon of someone being sick, if there was you'd be looking at it now.
yours in anticipation ED

I remember much was made about a Mynah bird trap a while ago. I found this about it on the internet as well as other information (links below). This is a transcript form a NSW 7.30 report. It has a bit of a poem in it to so I have coloured this to make the whole thing easier to read.

The project is called the Minimizing Mynas Project

Report, http://www.abc.net.au/7.30/s595922.htm

Transcript
1/7/2002

Scientists declare war on Indian mynah

KERRY O'BRIEN: It's called the 'Flying Rat', has become more of a menace than the insects it was introduced to control and it is threatening the long-term survival of native parrots in urban habitats.

It's the Indian mynah -- an aggressive, noisy, cocky little bird that's taking over city backyards and parks.

It's a saga similar to that of the cane toad.

Now, a team of researchers at the Australian National University is taking on the myna and, unlike the rather futile war that's been waged against the cane toad, these scientists believe it's one battle they can win.

Jeremy Thompson reports.

THE 'INDIAN MYNA' BY CJ DENNIS: "So I swagger and strut and I cuss and I swagger, I'm wise to the city's hard way.

A bit of a bloke and a bit of a bragger, I've always got plenty to say learned through' knocking' about since my people came out from the land at the back of Bombay".

PAUL RUSSELL, CANBERRA RESIDENT: They're aggressive, they breed very quickly, they take over the territory of our native birds, so I don't like them very much.

EVA TWARKOWSKI, PITTWATER COUNCIL: Some people call it the flying rat, which I think is quite a good name.

I don't think it spreads diseases, but they're extremely unpleasant birds.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Like many introduced species -- the cane toad, the rabbit, the European carp -- the Indian or common mynah gets bad press.

DR CHRIS TIDEMAN, ANU MINIMISING MYNA PROJECT: They destroy biodiversity by driving animals out of hollows like parrots, sugar gliders, animals like that that need hollows to survive.

Mynas aggressively drive them out or make nests on top of them.

JEREMY THOMPSON: The myna was brought to Melbourne from India in 1862 to control insects in market gardens.

They were later taken to Sydney and from there to North Queensland to combat cane beetles.

Now, just like the cane toad, which was introduced to destroy cane beetles, the myna is a major pest.

PAUL RUSSELL: I first recall mynas as a boy of 13 or 14.

They'd be around the main shopping centres scavenging in rubbish bins and that sort of thing, but over the next 10 years it seemed like they reached a critical mass and just spread all over Canberra.

JEREMY THOMPSON: They've only been in Canberra for 30 years.

They were introduced by a gentleman, the story goes, who missed their rowdy companionship.

A few years ago, this backyard eucalypt was home to numerous native species.

Now the parrots have been evicted from their hollows and the mynas rule the roost unchallenged.

PAUL RUSSELL: There would have been eastern rosellas, crimson rosellas, nesting in the hollows there.

As well there's an old peewee nest, a mud nest that they nest in, and they've been driven away by the mynas.

JEREMY THOMPSON: They evict other hollow dwellers too, like the native sugar glider once common here, now hard to find.

The Indian myna's transgressions go further -- an enemy of native fauna, they are the friend of unwanted flora.

EVA TWARKOWSKI: This is bitou bush.

It's a really bad noxious weed that has invaded coastal areas of Pittwater and NSW.

Indian mynas do feed on bitou bush and will assist in the spread of this bad noxious weed.

Eva Twarkowski, Natural Resources Officer with Pittwater Council in Sydney's north, has seen the Indian mynahs move into the Barrenjoey Peninsula, and native species, like this white-checked honey eater, become scarce.

EVA TWARKOWSKI: We do get letters and phone calls from residents who complain about the Indian mynah problem, that they are on the increase, and want to find out what council will be doing about it.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Back in Canberra, a research team from the Australian National University reckons it has the answer.

DR CHRIS TIDEMAN: Wild birds come and they are attracted by the decoy birds and the food, and they can access the trap through these special vales in the base, which are designed so mynas and starlings can fit through them, but not other birds like magpies or currawongs, for example.

JEREMY THOMPSON: It's been months of trial and error for Chris Tideman and his team to design a trap that does all that -- and it seems they've succeeded.

It not only uses decoy birds and one-way valves, but needs a dog, like retired sheepdog Jake, to keep cats from scaring the birds away.

DR CHRIS TIDEMAN: I think that it is possible to cut the numbers down.

What I'd like is to cut them down to very low levels -- maybe less than 1,000.

JEREMY THOMPSON: Traps like this have caught up to 300 birds in one Canberra backyard, effectively clearing them from a radius of several hundred metres, temporarily at least.

It seems to be working.

DR CHRIS TIDEMAN: What we do know already is that you can certainly remove a lot of mynas from an area, and it takes time for them to come back in again.

JEREMY THOMPSON: The trap is covered and the birds taken away and humanely destroyed using carbon dioxide gas.

Distasteful to some perhaps, but already more than 100 birds have been taken from this backyard, giving the owner some hope for future nesting seasons.

PAUL RUSSELL: We'll have rosellas, the peewees will return to their nests up there, we'll have crimson and eastern rosellas nesting in there, yeah.

JEREMY THOMPSON: The research will be completed later this year, and the Minimising Myna team wants local government to take over the trapping.

It may not be possible to eradicate this pest, but at least he can be brought down a peg or two.

'THE INDIAN MYNA': "And I swagger and scold and strut and I swagger, And pick up me fun where I can, Or tell off me wife, who's a bit of a nagger, or scrap with the sparrers for scran.

A bonzer at bluffin', I give you my word, for between you and me, I'm a pretty tough bird."

Also, Common Myna home page
Minimising Mynas - Feral Facts No 2 - Autumn 2002 (pdf file)
Minimising Mynas - Feral Facts No. 4 (pdf file)

- Stephen

What Ed says is right. Councils north of Brisbane are looking at what they can do about the Myna birds - i should know, cause I'm leading the charge for caloundra City Council.

We've kicked off a search mission to work out where the blighters are in the area. This is going ahead at a regional level.

A research student is looking at some valuable insight into their habitat preferences in new territory areas.

Some control trials will be happening - learning from the trials that have already happened elsewhere in Australia.

I hope to develop a series of approaches that will be appropriate, effective and community acceptable for the various situations that we are finding the birds - urban, rural, around shops, etc.

So people from Brisbane to Noosa - help us in the program - report introduced Common Myna bird sightings to your local Council.

- Greg

Trouble in Tahiti:

Title:
Impact of introduced birds on the recovery of the Tahiti Flycatcher (Pomarea nigra), a critically endangered forest bird of Tahiti

Authors:
Blanvillain C, Salducci JM, Tutururai G, Maeura M

Source:
BIOLOGICAL CONSERVATION
109 (2): 197-205 FEB 2003

Abstract:
In 1998, only 25 Tahiti Flycatchers (Pomarea nigra), a forest bird endemic to Tahiti (French Polynesia) remained. A recovery programme, aimed at nest protection through both rodent control and tree banding, was initiated. At this time it was supposed that the species was mainly the victim of island infestation by ship rats (Rattus rattus). In the 3 years of this study 54 nests were found and 17 fledged young produced, of which 12 survived the early stage of fledging., Despite an excellent 1999 breeding season and efficient nest protection against rodents, only five of 19 nests produced fledged young in 2000. This was related to higher (P = 0.002 and 0.015 respectively) Indian Mynah (Acridotheres tristis) encounters and aggressive interactions in 2000 and 1998 than in 1999. Indian Mynah encounters and interactions were also higher during reproductive activities (and particularly at incubation and nestling stages) in comparison with the non breeding period (P <0.001). In contrast, Red-vented Bulbul (Pycnonotus cafer) encounters and interactions were more uniform throughout. Significantly more Indian Mynah and Red-vented Bulbul were observed in flycatcher territories which experienced nest failure or early fledgling death in comparison with those which experienced reproductive success (P =0.003 and 0.002 respectively). This strongly suggests that these two introduced species represent an important threat to the Tahiti Flycatcher's survival. Currently, young birds (less than 4 years old) represent 42% of the population, an increase from 12% at the start of the recovery programme. © 2002 Elsevier Science Ltd

G'day all,

The ANU's Minimising Mynas program now has a discussion list.

http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/myna-minimisers

Also - more up to date,

http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/myna/subscribe.html


- Stephen

Thanks Stephen,
as usual you are a wealth of info, networks and help. :applause:
Ive subscribed to this
cheers Ed

This post is adapted from one Chris Tidemann posted on the Minimising Mynas mailing list. Thankyou Chris for permission to post this here. - Stephen

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The web site http://sres.anu.edu.au/associated/myna/index.html has been completely upgraded to provide answers to the many thousands of enquiries we have received about how to trap and humanely dispose of mynas.


Limited stocks of myna traps are available for sale - if you wish to purchase a trap please express interest via the web site.


The web site provides information on a new, expanded, trial of myna traps in Canberra suburbs commencing in March 2004. If you live in Canberra and would like to be involved in the 2004 minimising mynas trial please express interest via the web site.


The web site will be updated again soon with links to other groups involved with minimising mynas. If you represent a group and would like your web site to be linked to the anu myna site - please email myna@anu.edu.au with "Myna Group" in the subject line and the url of your web site in the text of the message. Please keep your message brief.




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_______________________________________________
Myna-minimisers mailing list
http://mailman.anu.edu.au/mailman/listinfo/myna-minimisers

Great article from ABC Australia,

The Common Indian Myna bird is fast becoming Australia's number one feral enemy! In Autumn, mynas start to aggregate in large flocks - providing the perfect opportunity to launch public education campaigns and to trial a new trap that could finally provide a way to remove these clever and aggressive pests....

http://www.abc.net.au/science/scribblygum/april2004/

- Stephen

we have mynas at our house and initially we started off with only one or two, but they've kinda multiplied and scare of our other native bird life. i was wondering has anyone tried this myna trap? coz i would like to no if it works, because i want to get rid of these annoying little birds (and this is coming from a die hard bird lover)
tweets birdwoman

Keeping Mynahs Away

Well as we know Mynah’s are a major pest in Australia. The only way to see the end of the species is to find ways to cut its food supply off. Unlike seagulls Mynah’s tend to be more interested in scavenging for food in our back gardens. One of their main food sources is left over dog and cat food in bowls in the back yard.

I recently did a test at my girlfriend’s house with the dog bowl. The test involved placing the dog food bowl in a large plastic container. I found within a week the mynah’s stopped eating from the dogs bowl and the number of mynah’s in the local area dropped. Before the test you would notice them sitting in the Eucalyptus trees in the backyard, now I cannot see them anywhere.

If you have any ideas of how to keep the mynah numbers down, or ways to cut off their food source let us know.


zeroanarchy

Encourage currawongs and Oz Ravens - both are in large numbers around my kids' primary school and there aren't many mynahs around at all. The ravens especially enjoy fossicking in rubbish and all the food bits that the kids leave everywhere. I am not sure but there seems to have been a reduction in mynahs around Sydney in recent years (along with sparrows).

But seriously, I think you have it in removing rubbish.
Cas

Gidday, Some friends of mine in SEQ are trying a trap Ive seen on the minimising mynahs web page. They are expensive and require a bit of committment to run.
The trap has to be baited and left open for 3 weeks before setting. Mynahs are cunning and require some work to catch.
When I get some news on their experience I will pass on.
cheers ed

Hi, My name is Chris Binckes, I live in Mareeba Far North Queensland. Myna's are a massive escalating problem here as in Africa. A trap that does work but is a bit expensive is to get a recording of a young myna bird in distress (you decide how to go about this) put it on a looped tape in a portable player, hide the player in a box inside a cage with a oneway door arrrangement like pigeon fanciers have on the door of a racing pigeon loft (ie thick wire rods hanging in a groove underneath that allows the birds in, not out). All mynah birds will come to investigate this alarming young bird crying and you will be able to get quite a few at a time. You may have to wait till after dark to take the trapped birds out of the cage. Also whenever touching the cage spray a mild solution of bleach over to remove your scent - myna's are very wary of humans. I await your reply Binckes@hotmail.com

Mynahs nest is roof spaces. I have pulled out the nests in the past. Blocking up your roof spaces in just one more way of taking something away that will advantage them.



- Stephen

More information on the damage done by the Indian Myna, and what is being done to control it, can be found here

hi everyone,
well i was going to start a new topic and everything, but this one serves me just as well (thanks micforester). I have just gotten back from fiji (hence the silence on my part), and was shocked at just how dispersed the indian mynahs are. When i arrived in fiji, before i could get my hands on an accurate bird book (for about two days) the only birds i saw were indian mynahs, indian mynahs with a tuft on the beak, and a type of bulbul. Once i finally procured a bird book, i found that my eyes had not decieved me and indeed the majority of the birds were indian mynahs and those with tufts were jungle mynahs, closely related to the aforementioned. It amazed me that such a tropical country could have such a limited amount of seemingly native bird life and so many introduced (the bulbul was a redvented bulbul also introduced). It just further reminded me of how important the reduction and control of introduced species is in maintaining our native birds. So in response to the topic, obviously the damage done is more widespread than i eva thought, and i do believe that something on the large scale must be done to curb these birds population.
*tweets*
birdwoman
ps. for the record i did see and correctly identify more birds after that time.

Hi birdwoman and welcome back,

Fiji has the added problem of being an island much smaller than Australia. With island biogeography effects introduced birds will probably have an even greater impact than they would here in Australia. They also have the added burden of being a third world country. Perhaps Birds Australia or some other conservation organisation could put, say, a 5c bounty on mynah eggs thus providing a source of income.

Cheers,
mic

Gidday, Im currently working out west and on my way home I saw abird on the road that I slowed down for, unfortunatly it was a minor. This was about 30mins west of Millmerran. From that point on I saw mynahs and more mynahs. The only other species of birds I saw where all nest builders. Hollow dwellers were totally absent.

I just wanna shoot em, waiting around for groups to buy traps and a coordinated control is just so frustrating. The minimising mynahs web site is great and Im sure its raised lots of awareness.

Why dont they bring in a Bounty system, 20cent a dead bird and who cares how it was killed. If the animal liberationists and the like get upset just show them an ecology minus the hollow dwellers. Glidders, Rossella's are cuter than those fling cane toads.
cheers ED

I think the major problem with a bounty system would be where the money comes from.
It’s not like with aluminium cans where you can recycle them and on sell the aluminium. There’s just nothing you can do with a dead bird or fox or cane toad let alone hundreds or thousands of them.
I guess they would all be put into land fill but I’m sure that could create its own set of problems with disease and the like.
As much as it would be a good way of getting rid of these problem animals there doesn’t seem to be a practical way to implement it.

The money would be well spent even if it came from the public purse. WWF and other NGO's may back it. There is always the chance some eco minded entrepenur type may get the grey matter working.

Ever used Charlie Carp fertilizer. Feathers are full of Nitrigen. Ground up Mynah Blood and Bone.
Donna's full of Mynah down. Hows that -a mynahdown instead of an iderdown.
Pig food.
Snappy Tom dead bird delight for the wild cat within.
Thinking about all these dead mynahs is fun.
cheers ED