Hi Michael,
I, like you, until recently thought that all native birds in New South Wales
were protected, with a permit system available for genuine cases where
control is necessary. Someone told me that crows and ravens (corvids) were
not protected on the NSW north coast. I checked the DEC (NPWS) website and
found that corvids were only protected in the Sydney, Newcastle and
Wollongong areas, Galahs and Sulphur-crested Cockatoos are not protected
west of the Great Divide and Purple Swamphens are unprotected in various
parts of the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area. My view is that all native
species deserve protection but I recognise that there may be rare cases
where lethal control is necessary. Often impact of native birds is better
managed by non-lethal means such as appropriate netting, fencing etc.
The reason for the unprotected status of corvids outside of the
Sydney-Newcastle-Wollongong area is that they attack lambs!! Well there are
very few, if any, lambs on the NSW North Coast and our common corvid is the
Torresian Crow, a species unlikely to attack lambs. We also have the Forest
Raven, a species that may well be threatened in New South Wales - and it is
unprotected.
I will be attempting to have the status of the corvids changed to protected,
particularly on the NSW north coast.
Greg Clancy.
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