Oscar Parry
A Hume councillor is waging war on the Common Myna bird in an effort to erdicate the “pests”.
Councillor Jack Medcraft said addressing the Common Myna bird and its impacts has been a goal of his for about 20 years.
“When I see these damn birds … they’ve got the yellow beaks and those spooky eyes,” Cr Medcraft said.
“These birds are absolute terrors in the air.”
He said the species’ behaviour posed a threat to native birds.
“What they do is that they’ll invade a nest and they will either kick the eggs out and take over or they’ll attack the young and kill them and then use it for their own,” he said.
“They sit on your fence and they watch you – and if anything happens to one of their mates, they really do get defensive, they’ll attack anything. So, I really want to get these declared as a pest.”
During a recent Hume council meeting, Cr Medcraft urged his colleagues to support his push for a statewide approach in eradicating Common Myna birds and the development a Common Myna community action group.
He asked council to write to Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos to advocate for statewide management of the species.
Cr Medcraft admitted he has also taken matters into his own hands on some occasions.
“I … took it upon myself to grab some traps, and I went out and caught these birds and – see you later alligator – you were gone,” Cr Medcraft said.
Cr Jarrod Bell said he supported the motion and Cr Medcraft’s “war on the mynas” has been going on for as long as he could remember.
“It has been a lifelong goal of mine to second a Cr Medcraft … Common Myna bird motion, and I’m glad that tonight I get to tick this off my bingo card,” Cr Bell said.
Cr Jodi Jackson said while on a personal level she did not object to the idea of a statewide approach to managing the species, she noted the Common Myna is not listed as a noxious species under the Catchment and Land Protection Act 1994.
Cr Jackson also raised concerns about the cost to ratepayers and how the community action group would operate, saying she would prefer to invest in increasing the council’s biodiversity programs.
Similar views are expressed in a website article by the RSPCA, where the organisation said it encourages increasing the quality of gardens to promote bird diversity and believes that trapping and killing Common Myna birds should only be carried out as part of a government-supervised program with clear guidelines on humane procedures.
When put to a vote, all councillors present were in favour of the motion except Cr Trevor Dance and Cr Jackson.
