Bin chickens to set up camp in new state in shocking reminder of climate crisis

A new state is set to become the permanent home of bin chickens, but celebrations will end when Australians hear why.

The infamous bird all Australians love to hate will be making a permanent move south, setting up camp for locals in a new state to enjoy.

The white ibis, otherwise known as the bin chicken, is soon to make Tasmania its permanent home as a result of climate change, according to BirdLife Tasmania ornithologist Dr Eric Woehler.

“As the climate envelope moves southward, we’re likely to see more and more,” Dr Woehler told ABC Radio Hobart on Wednesday.

While the size of bin chickens meant they were physically capable of making the lengthy flight across the Bass Strait, they didn’t typically make a habit of it, he said.

The Australian white ibis will be making a permanent move to Tasmania. Picture: Getty

A shifting in climate conditions is expected to see that change in the coming 30 to 50 years, Dr Woehler said, with a similar trend in other species already beginning to unfold.

“We’re seeing evidence from winter surveys of birds we would not normally expect to see in Tasmania in the winter months,” he said, highlighting the striated pardalote, which normally just migrated to the mainland for winter.

“Presumably it’s on the basis that the temperatures are not as severe and the food conditions allow them to feed successfully during the winter months.”

Bin chickens aren’t entirely foreign to Tasmania however, with 200 records of the bird in state since the 1950s.

The infamous bin chickens are expected to make the permanent move in the coming 30 to 50 years. Picture: Getty

“In some ways, it’s not surprising we’ve had the records of the ibises,” Dr Woehler said.

He added there had been reports of larger groups of ibises on Flinders Island, which led him to believe the species could be slowly island hopping towards Tasmania.

The volume of white ibis that do make the permanent move south would determine how much of a threat they posed to the existing local small mammals, frogs and lizards, Dr Woehler said.

Either way, he said they would adapt to their surroundings, just as many had done in urban areas, where they have developed their reputation as scavengers.