I received the email below from the Mike Parry of the Balingup Progress
Association in the south west of Western Australia. They are looking at
ways of scaring birds away from orchards, etc (without killing them!).
And maybe try to set up a small industry.
This is typical jarrah / marri type country so my guess is that the main
problem birds would be Silvereyes, Australian Ringnecks, maybe Red-capped
Parrots and Western Rosellas, etc. Hopefully Long-billed Black-Cockatoos
and Red-tailed Black-Cockatoos are not a problem. Would New Holland
Honeyeaters, wattlebirds, etc be a problem?
Please reply to Mike Parry at as he is not on the
birding-aus mailing list.
> Dear Frank,
> Balingup Progress Association
> I was recently employed by the BPA as project officer to assist with
> community development. Balingup is well known for the scarecrows
> decorating its roadsides and someone asked why we did not develop
> "bird scaring devices" as a serious business because birds cause a
> lot of damage to orchards and other crops in the area.
>
> So I spent a morning in the State Library and discovered, of course,
> that if I scare away all the birds on my property, they just fly into
> yours. One of the suggested solutions was a bird refuge where birds
> would choose to live - "bird paradise" - which in turn could become a
> bird sanctuary and a tourist attraction, so we could win both ways.
>
> It all seems so simple and logical, but I am sure it's not as easy as
> that! Then people started asking me about migrating birds and so on.
> Anyway, that is as far as I have got. Now I think we need to speak to
> some experts and find out if the idea is feasible and, if so, how we
> would go about it. Earlier this week I spent a few hours in the
> BioScience Library at UWA and found a few names of bird experts,
> yours being one of them, hence this email. (Since then I have been in
> touch with Peter Curry who suggested I contact the Agricultural
> Protection Board and Birds Australia. Richard Walker at APB nominated
> Marion Massam of the Agriculture Protection Program. Peter thought we
> had taken on "an interesting challenge" which sounds hopeful!)
>
> I would be very grateful if you could give us the benefit of your
> knowledge. A successful project would certainly benefit the community
> and perhaps also generate employment and, who knows, a bit of wealth
> in a town that badly needs it!
>
> Looking forward to your response.
> Yours sincerely,
> Mike Parry
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