Hi, I'm new to this website and I am enjoying it immensely.
I was wondering if anyone had noted that at this time (March/April) in the past 3 years Corellas have flocked in the parks around Central Station in the Sydney CBD, especially Belmore Park between Hay Street and Eddy Avenue, completely denuding the large Liquid Amber trees of their fruit/seedpods? I first noticed a handful of Corellas with one or two Sulphur Crested Cockatoos three years ago enjoying themselves stripping the seedpods. Last year the number of Corellas grew to around 30. These past two weeks have seen a flock of around 100 birds going gangbusters on the trees! I am curious whether anyone has recorded/commented on this in the past.
Hi there, welcome to the forum, glad you enjoying it. I live outside of Melbourne, and we get larger flocks of Corellas around Parks and Train Stations. But fortunately most of the trees around are native trees, mostly Gum, and I haven't noticed them stripping any of those. I believe Liquid Amber is not a tree native to Australia. (Maybe they should be replaced by some native trees)
Don't those Liquid Amber trees loose their leaves in winter anyway? Hope those trees don't turn into a pest , if the corellas eat the seeds and poop somewhere else, there will be Liquid Ambers everywhere. (when I lived in Europe those trees went completely out of control in gardens )
I send you a photo of Corellas in native trees.
M-L
Heya Araminta, couldnt open your photo. Yes the Liquid Amber is a non-native, and they are literally a pain in the neck when the spores from the seedpods get under your collar. The trees I mentioned are quite substantial and were probably planted decades ago for their shade during summer and yes they shed their leaves in Autumn - they are a classic Northen Hemisphere tree. I am curious as to why a native bird like the Corella would be so focused on these trees. The odd Sulpher Crested Cookatoo amongst the flock soon gets bored and nicks off to play chicken with the trains and traffic.
I just tried again, no idea why the photo didn't post. Love your sense of humour, please stick around, you and I will get along fine.
If you have ever seen a bored Corella, here is one just for your amusement, enjoy.
M-L
Here is a photo showing you , King Parrots also like to eat seeds, (or what ever they are called ?) of European or Canadian trees.
It's only a small tree that was on our property when we bought it. We cut everything else down and replaced it with natives, but this tree is full of Parrots about this time of the year, so we left it.
M-L
Little corellas have benefitted greatly from the changes made to the Australian environment since white settlement & their populations have spread from the more arid regions of Australia. In particular, they've taken advantage of the various grains that farmers have planted. So we can expect to see them taking advantage of many plant species which wouldn't normally be in their environment. And we can therefore expect to see them where they once wouldn't have been seen.
In Strathalbyn near where I live thousands of little corellas have caused great angst & debate among the townspeople because of their stripping of introduced pine trees in the soldier's memorial garden. Their noise is mind-numbing. They also, as expected, frequent the grain silos especially after grain carting has finished. All in all they're in plague proportions & we have only ourselves to blame, I believe, because we've wrecked their natural habitats.
About 23 years ago I recommended that council take an environmental approach to the problem by re-planting the Angas River which flows through Strathalbyn with river red gums Eucalpytus camaldulensis, restoring the swards of native grasses which were once in the area (& provided the little corellas with their natural food), & controling grain spillage at the silos. Not being very environmentally attuned, the local council took notice whatsoever of my presentation & instead used a variety of more technical methods to rid Strathalbyn of its little corella problem. Poisoning, noise machines, capturing & gassing & trained raptors have all been used with no long-term affect. The need to rid Strathalbyn of its little corella population raises its head about once every 2 years, in spite of my reminder to council about 4 years ago of my recommendations. Had council acted environmentally 23 years ago, the river red gums would be of considerable stature & the native grasses would have contributed greatly to the natural environment of the area. And, who knows, the little corellas may be much more widely distributed along the River Angas & not be so focussed on wreaking havoc in Strathalbyn.
So, fairlight, prepare yourself for a crude assault on the little corellas of Central Station in Sydney CBD as people come to see them as a pest. I believe there are much more environmentally sensitive solutions to such a problem & I present my story here as a possible clue or clues as to what might be done to combat the possible heavy handedness of authorities in the future. I probably needed to vent my spleen as well.
Sulphur Crested Cockatoos have been common in the city for a number of years, plus Australian Ravens, Silver Gulls, Pied Currawongs, Sacred Ibis, Australian Magpie to name ones that come to mind, have only seen Corellas in the Botannical Gardens on odd occasions.
Spotted a large South Pacific Gull hanging around the dining tables at the Sydney Opera House a couple of weekends back, also spotted a Sacred Ibis walking along Circular Quay with a large yellow plastic tag on its right wing with the number 243 in large figures...Raven