Calls for little corella cull after drone, laser fail to stop damage

Hi-tech solutions have not worked and there is now only one way to stop screeching flocks wreaking havoc in public parks.

Drones and lasers no longer cut it in the fight to deal with little corellas’ impacts, regional community leaders say, with some calling for coordinated culls to curtail the parrots’ large numbers.

It comes as the Local Government Association (LGA) has launched an expression of interest process asking councils to bid for funding to trial “habitat interventions” and drive away the native birds.

Alexandrina Mayor Keith Parkes said “thousands” of corellas flocked to his district over the warmer months, doing “tens of thousands of dollars” worth of damage to public and private property.

This included chewing boats’ halyards and the wiring on floodlights, stripping the branches off gum trees, ripping up lawns and pooing in public spaces, leading to health concerns.

“There’s some areas where the asphalt will be white with bird poo,” Mr Parkes said.

Corellas at Aldinga Sports Complex. Picture: Stephen Laffer

“They’re backing away from Goolwa a little bit now but they’re certainly very bad in Strathalbyn and Mannum and some other areas.

“You get a flock of them and they just about block out the sky and the noise they make is horrendous. Late afternoon just before sunset, the trees will be overwhelmed with white.”

Alexandrina Council has tried using birds of prey, lasers and gas guns, but Mr Parkes says its most successful measure has been drones, but that only scares the parrots away for a while.

“It’s really up to the local Landscapes Boards and the Government to come up with a solution,” Mr Parkes said.

“If there’s another way without killing them, go for it, but let’s do something.”

Alexandria Mayor Keith Parkes says corellas have been causing problems in his district for years. Picture: Mike Burton

Renmark Paringa Mayor Neil Martinson said corellas were “breeding like mice”, stripping trees and causing other problems in river towns around the state.

“We need to be able to control them and the best way to control them is to shoot them, and people don’t like that,” he said.

The birds are attracted to areas with tall trees and open sightlines, such as sports fields, parks and gardens. This has also included places around Adelaide, such as the city parklands and sports fields and reserves around Novar Gardens and Aldinga Oval.

A little corella and sulphur-crested cockatoo.

Heysen MP Josh Teague, who represents the Adelaide Hills, said culls were needed.

“It’s not a matter of eradicating these birds all together – as we know they will easily move from one place to another,” he said.

The LGA’s “habitat interventions” funding will help trial measures such as planting vegetation to deter the birds, nonlethal electric shock tools in trees and “opaque screens” to drive corellas away. Councils will report back and share knowledge.

An Environment Department spokesman said landholders were already allowed to shoot the birds and councils could apply to Landscape SA for funding.

He said the department was producing information for landholders – especially those where culls were either too complex or not desirable.

It is also supporting a research project to satellite-track and wing-tag little corellas in greater Adelaide. It will provide advice on movement patterns and potentially the size of the species’ population.

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