Protected birds drive grower nuts
Wednesday, February 6, 2013 at 2:08 
Gingin nut farmer Amos Machlin with spriggs of macadamia nuts torn from trees by flocks of Carnaby's Black Cockatoos, while Lilian Broadbent fires a Birdfrite cartridge into the air in a bid to scare the birds. Picture: Nic EllisA Gingin orchardist is being driven nuts by flocks of protected Carnaby's black cockatoos that are taking a devastating toll on his macadamia and pecan trees - but he does not blame the birds.
Amos Machlin blames land clearing for the problem that cost him the entire crop from his 400 macadamia trees last year and a third of the crop from his 900 pecan trees.
The 86-year-old has invested in everything from high-pitched sonar to radar, gas cannons and sound recordings of birds in distress to protect his trees, which are too tall for netting, but nothing has worked.
