Hi Birders,
Sset out below is an article by Jill Whitier a member of the Eurobodalla
Natural History Society that appeared in her club's newsletter last year. I
reproduce it here because it also sheds some light on the problem and issue
of Common Mynas.
Alan Morris
A LOOK AT THE EFFECT OF COMMON MYNAS ON NATIVE BIRDS IN THE TOWNS
When the first Common Mynas arrived in the Eurobodalla Shire (NSW South
Coast), three of them in a Batehaven garden in August 1989, we threw up our
hands and echoed the gloomy prognostications then in vogue, a litany of doom
in store for the native birds in towns and villages. The invaders would
drive all before them, steal the nest holes, and the towns would be taken
over by these unwelcome foreigners. Well, that was 15 years ago, and in the
last year and a half, I have been quietly observing the native birds in
Moruya and Batemans Bay and delving into past records to make some
comparisons between then and now.
The Mynas have not lived up to their reputation, at least not yet. Yes,
there are more of the birds, though their numbers do seem to fluctuate quite
wildly. Little groups are seen here and there around houses and gardens and
in the industrial parts of the towns, and 37 were seen a few months ago,
perched on wires near the feed store in Moruya, but the native birds in the
towns and suburban housing have remained in much the same numbers as
recorded year after year. Why?
If we look at the commercial parts, the shopping areas, there are no Mynas
at all and just a handful of House Sparrows. Red and Little Wattlebirds, and
Noisy Friarbirds in spring and summer, forage in shrubs and small trees
round motels, business premises and in the few trees left in the side
streets, as they always have done. Now, these are pretty aggressive birds,
not averse to a set-to with an intruder, and it is difficult to imagine them
fleeing from a few Mynas. Yellow-faced, White-naped, Brown-headed, New
Holland and Scarlet Honeyeaters and Eastern Spinebills continue their habit
of feeding in gardens and street plantings, specially when Callistemons and
Grevilleas are in flower.
Silver Gulls are also a permanent feature of Batemans Bay town, and who ever
heard of a gull backing away from a fight? In the suburban parts of both
towns, Galahs, Crimson Rosellas and King Parrots go about their affairs.
Satin Bowerbirds raid vegetable gardens, and Pied Currawongs and Magpies
hold their traditional fiefdoms, as all have done in the past. Even on the
grassy south bank of the Moruya River, the Silver Gulls hold the licence to
patrol round picnic tables, a Common Starling or two may put in an
appearance but the trees along the riverbank are the preserve of the native
birds, cockatoos and parrots, thornbills, butcherbirds, honeyeaters and
other species common to the district. The Yellow-faced Honeyeaters progress
through this corridor on their autumn migration. We can't blame the Mynas
for the absence of finches and firetails; close-mown grass never seeds in
parks, gardens or on verges; and the fairy-wrens' habitats to this passion
for suburban neatness. Town landscaping and native habitat make uneasy
bedfellows.
So why have Common Mynas not dislodged the original inhabitants? Because
they are town birds, scavengers, and they remain in the habitat with which
they are familiar and in which they can glean sufficient food to survive.
If they stray occasionally into open country, they make no effort to remain
there and colonise. Their choice of nesting sites seems confined to garden
trees and whatever holes can be found in buildings and under eaves. The
hole-nesting native birds are in little danger of being turfed out of their
traditional nesting sites by Mynas that don't venture into either woodland
or forest to nest or forage.
Come to think of it, suitable holes have never featured large in the urban
landscape and one would be hard-pressed to find traditional nest-holes in
any town nowadays. The bid old trees have succumbed to the chainsaw in the
name of convenience and safety; their roots buckle the concrete pavements,
their branches cause havoc in the power lines and may even fall on innocent
passers-by, thus causing the local council untold expense in public
liability claims. A large tree in a suburban garden is no longer an asset,
leaves clog the roof gutters and roots cause expensive damage to pipes and
sewers. In our towns, the hole-nesting birds have long been accustomed to
retiring to nearby woodland and forest to nest and raise their young and
they continue to do so. The birds that forage and nest in towns and gardens
have not diminished and appear to be holding their own against the incomers.
This is a well-forested, well-protected Shire, where even the coastal
woodlands continue to survive pretty well. There is no shortage of nesting
holes and, therefore, no conflict of interest; if there had been, we would
have seen some evidence of it in the last 15 years. On present indications,
the native birds seem in no danger of being displaced by Common Mynas. Jill
Whiter.
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