In recent years, Indian Myna numbers have grown dramatically across Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands area.
They have bred up around inner city centres and have moved in great numbers into new suburban areas.
Their high concentrations and wide spread colonies are causing serious damage to Tropical North Queensland’s native wildlife.
Cairns Remove Indian Mynas Inc (CNSRIM) is a community group organisation formed in November 2011 to reduce the impact of this exotic invader on our native birds and animals. It is partnered in its work by the Cairns Men’s Shed, which has been manufacturing and selling Myna bird traps to the general public since 2011. Men’s Shed members have also caught and euthanized large numbers of the pest.
One of Far North Queensland’s greatest attractions to both residents and visitors alike is our colourful and varied native birdlife . However, this attraction is being diminished before our very eyes by this territorial aggressive pest.
Key points of the Indian Mynas Bird:
1/ Are one of the most invasive animal species in the world.
2/ Take over nesting hollows, evicting birds and small mammals, and prey on nestlings.
3/ Pose some small human health risk, and the nesting material they bring into roof cavities and other spaces in buildings can be a fire hazard.
In the 1860s the Indian myna was deliberately introduced into Melbourne’s market gardens to keep down insects.
Further releases followed in Sydney, Childers and Cairns, and like the cane toad, they spread quickly, with devastating implications for wildlife.
The Indian myna has the potential to spread avian malaria, damage fruit, vegetable and cereal crops.
It builds large, noisy, communal roosts in suburban areas, including roof cavities, and can cause dermatitis, allergies and asthma in humans.
The Indian myna can lay six eggs at a time, and they can breed three times in a breeding season, so that’s the potential for 18 chicks in one year. Whereas the native rosella will lay four or five eggs and they’ll only raise two or three chicks a year.
These Indian mynas breed up and start evicting natives from their nesting hollows and Australia is already losing a lot of old nesting hollows to development.
