Sadly, a cull may be only solution to these villains
I WAS always rather fond of noisy miners.
Perhaps that goes back to my boyhood days when I read about them in Wild Life, a monthly nature magazine edited by Crosbie Morrison.
Now I know them to be villains that have taken control of large areas of country where they bully and harass other, smaller birds.
Where miners live, many other birds are unable to survive, creating environmental imbalance and habitat decline.
Strictly speaking, it’s not their fault.
The way we have modified the country, particularly for farming both broadscale and for hobby farms, has given them ideal living conditions.
One bird that has suffered is the critically endangered regent honeyeater.
It shares the habitat that the miners have invaded, but it is quite unable to compete.
The regent honeyeater is one of our rarest birds, and in recent years many have been captive-bred for release in suitable habitats.
But in the places where they are released, miners have out- competed them, even destroying the nests they built.
The only solution, if the regents were to survive, was to reduce the miner population.
With considerable reluctance, it was decided to cull their numbers before the honeyeater nesting season.
The result was the regent honeyeaters had the most successful breeding season in many years.
The site where this took place was in New South Wales, and approval for the miner cull was reluctantly given by state and federal conservation agencies.
While I’m no fan of population culls, it seems this was the only solution.
It is not intended that there would be an overall cull, but a reduction in numbers in a specific site for a single purpose. The book Birds and Botanists can be obtained through ppescott@gmail.com or at selected bookshop outlets.