Southern corellas to be trapped and gassed
CORELLAS plaguing Old Noarlunga will be trapped and euthanised with gas, although there is an alternative in this wedge-tailed eagle or a falcon.
Onkaparinga Council voted last week to work with the Old Noarlunga Commercial & Residents Association (ONCARA) to establish a “trap and gas” program to deal with the town’s annual corella population that has been estimated at 10,000 birds.
Residents would be trained to help with the program which reportedly needs to euthanise only 10 per cent of the corellas to act as a deterrent.
The birds are trapped by a net, before being put down with carbon dioxide.
Bird handler Paul Willcock, from Adelaide Bird Removal, said he could achieve a better success rate with his falcon and his newly trained wedge-tail eagle without the need to kill any corellas.
Alexandrina Council, which used the “trap and gas” method in 2006 and 2007 with limited success, then turned to Mr Willcock for help.
ONCARA chairman Charles Cairns said the council’s decision to try the trap and gas method was a “positive outcome”.
“It was a positive meeting and the main thing to come out of it is that our plight’s been recognised and they’ve taken it on board to manage the problem,” he said.
Friends of the Little Corella Group chairwoman Maree Smith said the group was “extremely disappointed” with the council’s decision.
“We had an assurance from the mayor that no lethal method would be used in the City of Onkaparinga so for it to come to this is just plain disappointing,” Ms Smith said.
“What about the message it sends to the youth today - if it annoys you, just kill it.”
She said the trap and gas method caused correllas to “die in agony” and she supported non-lethal methods of moving the birds on such as using a falcon.
Corellas descend on Old Noarlunga every summer, stripping foliage off trees, digging up roots, soiling the locals and chirping late into the night.
In January, the Southern Times Messenger reported almost 10,000 corellas had descended on the south.
Onkaparinga has previously tried starting pistols and flashing lights to scare the birds, to no great effect.
Council public health and safety manager Chris Button told the June 3 council meeting the falcon method used by Alexandrina Council could be considered after its success was monitored.
Meet the corellas’ worst enemy.
One peregrine falcon called Lucy helped rid Strathalbyn of its corellas earlier this year at the request of Alexandrina Council; and Hummer, a wedge-tailed eagle, is in training to do the same.
Their handler Paul Willcock said the Strathalbyn exercise was a total success.
“We had the (corellas) under control in four days and to this day birds have not returned to area we were protecting,” he said.
“The falcon is the corella’s natural predator and when it’s released the corellas panic.
“Their defence mechanism is to come together as a big ball of birds the flock becomes one brain and moves away from the danger area.
“Every time that flock returns I release (Lucy) again, turning it into a dangerous environment if you’re a corella they don’t go back there.”
Mr Willcock said Hummer would soon be ready to scare off the corellas.
Alexandrina Council engineering and infrastructure director Dennis Zanker said Lucy had been “very successful”.
“For the six to eight weeks that the falcon was used it was very successful very few corellas ventured back in to the area we were protecting,” he said.
“In saying that, we can’t say whether it would be successful over a whole season because we only used it for a short period.”
He also said while the method was successful in moving the birds on, it didn’t address the issue of corella overpopulation.