Cocky clampdown

By Tania Martin
BACKYARD feeding of cockatoos could soon be illegal in the Shire of Yarra Ranges in a bid to curb the damage caused by the birds.
But they have been threatened with even more dire consequences to their misbehaviour as one councillor has called for them to be culled.
For months Kallista residents have been calling for help as sulphur crested cockatoos continue to rip apart their town.
Now the shire has moved to make it illegal for residents to feed the birds.
Experts say the leading cause of the damage is people feeding the birds. The birds then get bored because they no longer have to look for food and start pecking apart the surrounding infrastructure.
The Shire of Yarra Ranges last week unanimously agreed to for an urgent report into how the bird damage could be stopped.
Lyster Ward’s councillor Samantha Dunn said a new by-law would provide clarity surrounding feeding the birds.
Cr Dunn has called for a report on the proposed law to be returned to the council by November.
“We need to know where it will fit in and our best options… we don’t want this to drag on. We want to see something happen fairly quickly.”
But Chandler Ward councillor Graham Warren fears a new law would be ineffective.
“We have danced around this issue a bit with these sorts of pest but I think culling is the only way to reduce their impact,” he said.
Cr Dunn believes there are many residents across the shire who ignore advice to not feed the cockatoos.
“I have heard people saying there’s no law and I am not going to stop until there is,” Cr Dunn said.
Cr Dunn said the new law would rely on residents reporting any instances of backyard feeding.
“It will need a lot of community involvement because obviously we don’t have the resources to patrol,” she said.
Cr Dunn said the council would still need to focus a lot on educating the community about the detrimental impacts of feeding cockatoos.
“We recognised education has a key role to play in helping residents understand that feeding cockatoos has that unintended impact of the birds chewing all manner of things from timber, mortar, power supply lines to fixtures and fittings,” she said.