From todays Sydney Daily Telegraph newspaper, Sat 27th Aug 2011, page 22:
Native Noisy Miners are far more threatening to other Australian birds in NSW that the introduced Indian Mynas, research has revealed.
The investigation has challenged widespread public opinion and questions why local councils spend precious public dollars on ways to eliminate or control Indian Mynahs.
Dr Richard Major, a senior research scientist at the Australian Museum, is overssing a study by Sydney University student Kate Lowe into the two bird species.
"We broke down the study into four categories and in all four the Indian Mynah was basically not guilty of the crimes it's commonly charged with," Dr Major said yesterday. "We first look at agression rates as Indian Mynahs are perceived as very aggro little birds but we have found that the native Noisy Miners are at least five times more agressive."
The research also found Indian Mynahs were not a serious competitor for food with native species.
"Indian Mynahs are not angels but their effect on native birds has been overstated," Dr Major said.
My experience of Indian Mynahs is that I agree largely with the findings. I've notices with amusement that even speckled doves beath them up at times. Most of the natives will move them on if they encroach their territory. I watched in great amusement a whole flock of Indian Mynahs harried out of a large tree simply by a pair of Red Wattlebirds dividing the tree between them and flitting from branch to branch whith the result that the whole flock on Mynahs was on the move and flew off in disgust and didn't return where previously they were actually sleeping in macadamia nut trees beneath the taller tree. When they moved out the speckled dove moved in and have remained there ever since.
I don't mind a few Mynahs around, they make an excellent job of eating lawn grubs and have saved many dollars worh of spray since they arrived in the district.
Amusingly, when a few too many are around, I have found that by frowning at them they move away - I had noticed they use a similar movement to intimidate rivals.
I have a pair living near here, I enjoy their song in the mornings, they are a cheerful and happy little birds with great whistles, chuckles and rattling.
It's not their fault they were introduced to this country, I tolerate the pair near here but they can be bothersome in large flocks. Yes, the certainly clean up the garden of pests and even the kitchen scraps too!
I am very wary of studies of this nature without knowing agendas and circumstances of the studies. And IMO, any competition a non-native species causes to native species is too much competition.
While I agree it is not their fault IM's were introduced, I still don't want to encourage them and would actively discourage them to the point of removing nesting material if I can reach it. I observed them take over a eucalypt nesting hollow at my house, which had been occupied by a crimson rosella and I have seen them inhabit the roof space of neighbouring houses in a similar manner to rats. Also, not that it is relevant, the call of at least one IM around our location sounds as if he is swearing (you can guess which combination) in rapid succession.B'> I'm sorry I can't find any redeeming feature for an IM.
In comparison a lot of the problems caused by Noisy Miner (and Wattle bird) aggression occur due to planting an over abundance of nectar producing trees/shrubs to the detriment of habitat including shelter for other birds species. This in turn results in larger population of the NM and less area for other birds to retreat or feed.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Just to point out guys - Richard is a Steering Committee member of BIBY :)
There is no agenda qyn55 :) He is simply trying to point out what the research is telling us versus what people's perceptions are. There is a hell of a lot of money that councils and the general public put into trapping with, in many cases, limited success.
And definitely remove nesting material qyn - I can guarantee Richard would encourage that as well!
Holly, thanks for the clarification, I did not mean to come off so hot-headed even though it probably reads that way - I apologise to Raven for that - although I do feel strongly about this issue and find that the media don't always portray the whole story.
I remember when I was at LaTrobe Uni (BSc) we often had to take an opposing view to own own, then try and prove it. It was amazing how much "evidence" could be found to support any viewpoint.
Stepping off my soap box and taking my hat off now to cool my head down! :')
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Just adding another comment,they do need to be culled intermittently, mainly due to the lazy habits of the human species, expecially in the vicinity of areas of concentrated cerebral learning. :):) Two pair of Red Wattlebirs were cavorting in the Canadian walnut this morning, not an Indian Mynah in site.
By the way, they do join native birds in driving off the various raptors who visit.
On the topic of Noisy Miners, I have just recently read a number of papers looking at the relationship between Noisy Miners and small birds like wrens, robins and such. It would seem that one of the best things we can do to encourage these guys and discourage Noisy Miners is to plant thick shrub cover.
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It seems to both discourage noisies and encourage small birds. It may not work for suburban blocks if there are no small birds in your area, but if they are around, it can't hurt.
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From both personal observation and reading, stuff like lantana provides critical habitat, so if you are clearing lantana, (not likely on city/suburban blocks, I guess) try and replace it with other similarly dense shrubs.
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I had read this before generally, but not from a scientific basis, so it's nice to see the evidence for it.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
That is good advice Tim and what I have also read.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
Lantana is listed by many councils as a noxious weed, back in 2000 it costs be just shy of $2,000 to get a contractor in to spray Lantana on my country property. Privett and blackberry bushes also provide great cover for little Wrens etc but too are noxious weeds.
Yes, Lantana is about in suburbia too, just last year our local council had a big article in the local rag covering Lantana, Privett and Blackberrys on residential properties.
Don't forget our forefathers also introduced Black Birds and Starlings, with the latter just as bad, if not worse in some cases, as the little fellows from Bombay!
No offense taken qyn :)
Timmo - you are right, we think that creating a habitat that Noisy's don't like - that is, dense shrubs, will provide a place for small birds to go. There was research a couple of years ago that showed that, in wildlife corridors, where there were eucalypts dominating the canopy - NMs dominated the bird community. In corridors where there were bipinnate acacias also in the canopy, there were few to no NMs and lots of small birds.
And yes lantana is great small bird habitat so removal has to be done slowly and replaced with dense shrubs to provide similar cover.
There is still lots of research to be done on lots of these issues (and related ones) and BIBY is keen to soon get back into some research.
If you want more info - our guidelines (on the bird-friendly gardens page) is based on scientific research and the larger scientific report has references in it. Don't be put off by 'scientific report' - it isn't aimed at scientists - it is supposed to summarise what scientists are finding.
Lantanna is useful habitat, however they do like prickly plants such as cockspur and native fingerlime. Where I gre up theere was also two lare old briar rose clumps that belogned to the Superb Fairy Wrens also. Their favourite nesting bush was native finger lime.
Down where I live now, the banksiae rose at times is theirs, mostly they share with the resident sparrows but sometimes evict them. There is cover for them around ninety percent of the perimiter of the yard, their favourite bushes being lemon-scented tea tree (one is a potted plant just outside the back door and they have been known to sit in its branches and peer inside the house chattering all the while), macadamia nut trees, monstera deliciosa (great place to shelter from the rain along with silvereyes and sparrows), a Japanese persimmon is a great place from which to shout your superiority to the world, as is a weeping mulberry and a meyer lemon. They are a delight to have around.
Lantanna is useful habitat, however they do like prickly plants such as cockspur and native fingerlime. Where I gre up theere was also two lare old briar rose clumps that belogned to the Superb Fairy Wrens also. Their favourite nesting bush was native finger lime.
Down where I live now, the banksiae rose at times is theirs, mostly they share with the resident sparrows but sometimes evict them. There is cover for them around ninety percent of the perimiter of the yard, their favourite bushes being lemon-scented tea tree (one is a potted plant just outside the back door and they have been known to sit in its branches and peer inside the house chattering all the while), macadamia nut trees, monstera deliciosa (great place to shelter from the rain along with silvereyes and sparrows), a Japanese persimmon is a great place from which to shout your superiority to the world, as is a weeping mulberry and a meyer lemon. They are a delight to have around.
Apologies, I seem to have some typing gremlins helping of late.
Thanks all - Raven, Holly, birdsong, for the input.
Raven,
I'm very aware that lantana is a noxious weed - I spent years as a kid earning pocket money clearing it for my folks :D I do note that I neglected to say that, so I get what you're saying. What I meant was, if you want to clear weeds like lantana in the name of creating 'native' habitat (and I'm all for this), think about the impact of clearing it, and try to replace it with something similar.
Holly, thanks for that info, that's great to know. I'd be interested in finding out about any research BIBY is doing, and being involved if possible. I've just started studying Environmental Management (on my 2nd go round at uni) and am really enjoying it.
Birdsong, more good info :). I have a native finger lime in a pot, ready to go into the garden, but it's only small and they grow SO slowly! I'm not sure that I'll get small birds where I am, but I'll enjoy putting in the garden to try just the same.
Cheers
Tim
Brisbane
Heres some useless info i found out just recently regarding the indian mynah. In fiji they assist the villagers & the mongoose in detecting snakes. When an indian mynah sees a snake it whistles & chatters & carries on, this alerts the mongoose who finds & kills the snake. this is very good for the villagers who work in the sugar cane fields where snakes like to live. Like i said just a piece of useless info, but interesting at that. all working together......
if your happy when your birding, flap your wings.
Thanks, MrTattoo, you have given me a redeeming quality for the Indian Mynah - that is very interesting that the IM and the mongoose work as a team.
Despite what I have posted I don't really dislike the cheeky little guys for themselves just that they are so visibly here in Australia instead of the birds I would much rather see and that includes the NM in preference.
Alison
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"the earth is not only for humans, but for all animals and living things."
I have always wondered about Noisy Miners and there are far too many of them for the poor other birds to cope. I have saved a Pardalote from an attack by these birds before and they seem to chase any bird they can and relentlessly bully them. Settlement has changed our country immensely and this is just another aspect with the Miners being able to do so well in a modified habitat.
Cheers, Owen.
In the 24 years we've been doing our ecological restoration thing here in SA we've seen the numbers of introduced birds at our domicile drop decisively. Once we saw flocks of up to 600 or more starlings. In breeding season I estimate flocks of around 1000. We rarely see one now, except in spring when I might see a dozen or so for a couple of weeks. House sparrow numbers have dropped from about 200 - 300 to about 6. Blackbirds are down from 6 for quite a few years to 2 this year, ably assisted by my destruction of their nests in spring.
My limited experience of mynahs is that they inhabit cities where the native vegetation has long been removed but I stand to be corrected on this. But if I'm right then it suggests that trapping & other removal techniques are likely to be less successful than the planting of indigenous vegetation which will attract native birds which may out-compete the mynahs. Unfortunately, local authorities are happy to spend millions on artificial eradication methods which, short of a nuclear holocaust, are mostly doomed to failure. They could save lots of money while simultaneously saving water, beautifying cities & increasing biodiversity if they did more ecological restortation.
Indian Mynah birds are very opportunistic, they can get a feed by being very resourceful.
They are a very obnoxious and cocky little bird but I do enjoy their chatter here, heard one yesterday trying to imitate a Pied Currawong, quite funny to listen to.
The big drop in Starlings can be attributed to the prolonged drought experienced in rural NSW/VIC where bird populations were affected greatly.
It's thought that the steady increase of Sacred Ibis, Sulphur Crested Cockatoos, Australian Ravens and Corellas in metro areas of Sydney was also attributed to drought in the bush over the past two decades.
I have not seen a Sparrow here for over 10 years, but should I go six streets down the road to my mates house and there is plenty in his backyard!