Frightening birds

By Kath Gannaway
YARRA Ranges Council has invited public comment on a proposed new local law governing the operation of electronic bird deterrents.
The council earlier this year deferred a decision on the matter in anticipation of its adoption of their Green Wedge Management Plan and further research into the effect on endangered birds in the area – particularly the Helmeted Honeyeater and the Powerful Owl.
The issue of noise-generating bird deterrents was included in the recently adopted Green Wedge Management Plan.
The new law will amend the Scaregun Control Local Law and includes controls such as devices that must be inaudible to nearby residents between sunset and 7am, measurable noise limits must be set between 7am and sunset and the devices must not make sound for more than 35 per cent of that time.
Devices that reproduce the sounds of owls will be banned and a 500 metre no-go zone will be in place around the Yellingbo Nature Conservation Reserve. The reserve is the breeding site for the critically endangered Helmeted Honeyeater.
Cr Samantha Dunn said there remained a lot of unanswered questions in the proposal, especially around the effect devices might have on Powerful Owls.
“I still wonder whether we have it right around the impact on Powerful Owls and their breeding,” she said.
“I am happy enough to have it out there for proper consultation,” she added.
Cr Graham Warren said he also had concerns, but around the times the devices would be allowed to operate.
“Birds don’t have alarm clocks and they can destroy a crop in a very short time,” he said.
“It’s important for people to have a say and I think the documents will look a bit different when those submissions come back,” he said.
Submissions can be made to Yarra Ranges Council. The proposed change was advertised in local papers on 16 August and submissions close on 24 September.