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Forums > General Discussion   Shooting the breeze...

What can happen when you fly

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Created by j murray > 9 months ago, 30 Sep 2009
j murray
SA, 947 posts
30 Sep 2009 12:39PM
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Here's a small problem as one is belted into ones seat, a gaggle of
Starlings swoop across the path of a commercial airliner as it rotates
off the runway, and are inducted/injected/inhailed into the motive power
plant that keeps you safe in the air.
Nasty little worthless birds that were introduced into Australia, and something
that we allow to multiply without concern along with many other introduced
pests. Every aussie kid should be encouraged to trap and dispose of these
problem species, maybe even be paid a bounty.
Are you flying off somewhere soon???


JayBee
NSW, 714 posts
30 Sep 2009 1:19PM
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Starling - family of birds (many of which are native to Australia).

Indian Mynah bird - member of the Starling family and is not native to Australia.

Mobydisc
NSW, 9029 posts
30 Sep 2009 1:57PM
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Tons of Indian Mynahs around here. Hate the bastards. I see them giving other birds, even ones the size of crows a hard time. No level of government seems to care about them.

DavMen
NSW, 1510 posts
30 Sep 2009 2:04PM
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Mobydisc said...

Tons of Indian Mynahs around here. Hate the bastards. I see them giving other birds, even ones the size of crows a hard time. No level of government seems to care about them.


I hate them too - and the're smart buggers too, they watch and learn of other birds so they can steal their food source etc. They other day when riding my pushie home I was swooped on by what I thought was a Magpie - turned out to be a mynah that had whatched and learnt of them. Apparently you can only ever catch one bird with a trap as they learn quickly to stay away once they see another caught.

should legalise air riffles again!

Gestalt
QLD, 14995 posts
30 Sep 2009 2:07PM
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up at the burrum heads speed comp we saw a helicopter hit a flock of birds.

the pilots were flying low looking for some boaties that had come to a sad end.

one hell of a bang!!

j murray
SA, 947 posts
30 Sep 2009 1:53PM
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Starlings as an introduced species in Australia
according to the Bible of birdo's, by Grahme Pizzey
" A Field Guide to the Birds of Australia "
....i rest my case......


JayBee
NSW, 714 posts
30 Sep 2009 3:01PM
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I humbly suggest that you actually read the pages on the document you have posted, especially the bit about the Metallic (Shiny) Starling being a native species!

I may have erred by using the word "many", when in fact it appears that there are 2 identified species of Starling native to Australia, and one of those is already extinct.

JB

Mark _australia
WA, 23745 posts
30 Sep 2009 1:04PM
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Interesting I also saw in the media twice in the last month about how foxes are becoming a big problem in cities. Also rabbit numbers coming up again big time was mentioned last week (in the paper I think)

Taking the guns off law abiding people in 1996 ring a bell???

pooman
WA, 293 posts
30 Sep 2009 1:32PM
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JayBee said...

I humbly suggest that you actually read the pages on the document you have posted, especially the bit about the Metallic (Shiny) Starling being a native species!

I may have erred by using the word "many", when in fact it appears that there are 2 identified species of Starling native to Australia, and one of those is already extinct.

JB


hahaha j murray = FAIL

Mobydisc
NSW, 9029 posts
30 Sep 2009 4:29PM
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Thats the problem. The federal government took away the right to have a gun unless you had a 'legitimate' reason to own one. So just having a 22 rifle in the cupboard incase you see a rabbit, fox or Indian Mynah in the yard and you want to shoot it, isn't a legitimate reason. Lots of farmers and landholders gave up their guns as it wasn't worth the hassle to keep a gun.

In response the number of feral animals keep rising and no one in government at any level seems to care. In every Sydney suburb centre with trees at dusk you can't talk due to the noise that the Indian Mynahs make.

grandfromage
WA, 344 posts
30 Sep 2009 2:43PM
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j murray said...


Here's a small problem as one is belted into ones seat, a gaggle of
Starlings swoop across the path of a commercial airliner as it rotates
off the runway, and are inducted/injected/inhailed into the motive power
plant that keeps you safe in the air.
Nasty little worthless birds that were introduced into Australia, and something
that we allow to multiply without concern along with many other introduced
pests. Every aussie kid should be encouraged to trap and dispose of these
problem species, maybe even be paid a bounty.
Are you flying off somewhere soon???





Which pratt introduced your species?

DavMen
NSW, 1510 posts
30 Sep 2009 6:07PM
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Mark _australia said...

Interesting I also saw in the media twice in the last month about how foxes are becoming a big problem in cities. Also rabbit numbers coming up again big time was mentioned last week (in the paper I think)

Taking the guns off law abiding people in 1996 ring a bell???




Yeah - Sydney Olympic Park, pretty much the geographical centre of Australia's largest city is plagued with feral rabbits! I see them at dusk and dawn on my pushie.

mkseven
QLD, 2315 posts
30 Sep 2009 6:29PM
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Gestalt said...

up at the burrum heads speed comp we saw a helicopter hit a flock of birds.

the pilots were flying low looking for some boaties that had come to a sad end.

one hell of a bang!!


Haha, was just about to relate this-
TV crew filming vando
helicopter flys past... CRACK!
helicopter didn't seem to go quite right after that, though nor did the bird

I see alot more foxes, rabbits (yes they are in qld) and hares at work now. I don't mind foxes and I haven't broken an ankle on a rabbit hole yet and for every one of either I see many more feral cats or canetoads or feral dogs yet they don't really bother me either- at this stage council/govt has effective controls in place. Joe public having gun availability in the name of pest control does bother me though.

As for "plagues" it is just the way the world works. An introduced species will always peak before a happy medium is reached, the fact that they are new makes it stand out also. As a kid even it seemed that everything was a pest be it native or introduced and was to be shot or trapped or poisoned- starlings, sparrows, cane toads, flying foxes, cockatoos, crows etc. In brisbane now sparrows and starlings are a rare sight. The gecko was the recent addition that everyone saw but even they have decreased in numbers a bit, Mynah birds are another. It is almost always human doing that causes the imbalance, eventually nature deals with it for example crows learning to eat cane toads. But in the meantime measures put in place such as better building regulations or don't feed the ibis are far more effective than people shooting away at them.

dutchy1985
213 posts
1 Oct 2009 10:27AM
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The only bird i've ever seen stand up to them was a kookaburra. There were two of Starlings swooping a kookaburra sitting on my fence and it grabbed hold of one of them and decapitated it with a snap of its razor-beak and a 3 second shake, coolest thing I have ever seen. I love alpha-kookaburras now. Apparently they kill massive snakes too. Sic.

ikw777
QLD, 2995 posts
5 Oct 2009 11:00AM
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grandfromage said...

j murray said...


Here's a small problem as one is belted into ones seat, a gaggle of
Starlings swoop across the path of a commercial airliner as it rotates
off the runway, and are inducted/injected/inhailed into the motive power
plant that keeps you safe in the air.
Nasty little worthless birds that were introduced into Australia, and something
that we allow to multiply without concern along with many other introduced
pests. Every aussie kid should be encouraged to trap and dispose of these
problem species, maybe even be paid a bounty.
Are you flying off somewhere soon???







Which pratt introduced your species?



This looks more like a species being introduced to Pratt and Whitney!



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Forums > General Discussion   Shooting the breeze...


"What can happen when you fly" started by j murray