Long-billed Corella, Cacatua tenuirostris. Image by marj kALMOST half the Busselton shire’s cockie population has been culled.
This has been revealed in a shire report that the council will consider at tonight’s meeting.
The trial eradication program targeted a flock of an estimated 250 corellas at the start of last November and resulted in 113 birds being eradicated.
A professional shooter was engaged to eradicate birds while they were roosting in trees near the shire officers. However on at least six occasions over three months a range of difficulties prevented any shooting.
The report said shooting the birds during the day was not practical as they mostly frequented trees at the foreshore where there was a high public presence.
After seeking advice from the Department of Environment and Conservation, a feeding and trapping program was utilised.
It had resulted in the removal of 113 birds from the flock and this method had proved to be a suitable way of controlling the corella population.
It had been determined the corellas around Busselton were not native to the area and the nuisance they caused and threat they posed to other native fauna warranted the implementation of the control program.
The report concluded that corella numbers would increase again unless they were kept in check by an ongoing control program and it was recommended that the control be continued on an as-needs basis to keep their numbers in check.
The report has recommended that the council support the continuation of a trapping program.
The shire’s coordinator of environmental planning Will Oldfield told council last Wednesday the intention was to reduce, not eradicate, the corellas.
The shire also wanted DEC approval to be allowed to do its own culling as it could catch the birds, but not kill them and it wanted to get a licence to do so.
At the moment it was dependent on DEC sending officers to the shire to do it.