A Diggers Rest woman says she is faced with cutting down five gum trees on her property in a bid to rid her family of up to a thousand corellas that are ruling the roost.
Tracey Vella has lived in the area for more than 40 years and said the corellas have only become a problem over the past decade.
She is one of a number of residents urging Melton council to help find a solution for the nuisance birds that gather in Hitchcock-like proportions in trees, on the road, on rooftops and window ledges daily.
“The corellas started coming to Diggers
about 13 years ago when we had the massive drought and there was no water or feed for them in the bush,” Ms Vella told
Star Weekly last week.
“Before Bloomdale estate was here, we were surrounded by farmland and even the land at the army camp site was also farmed with crops … we had plenty of food and water around for them so they called Diggers Rest home.”
In 2016, Melton council established a corella management working group to monitor the birds but residents say they have seen no progress.
Fellow resident, Gabby Digiglio said the birds were “destroying the town”.
“I went past my block of land to find hundreds of corellas blocking the road, covering the roofs of houses … they were everywhere,” Ms Digiglio said.
Ms Vella said the birds gather for about five months of the year, between November and April, and the noise along with the mess has now become “unbearable”.
“On our property we have five gum trees about 43 metres tall,” Ms Vella said.
“They’re in it every single day and night …at least 2000 a day and about 1000 in one tree.
“For the first part of the day, they strip the tree and then they go away and come back at 9pm, at dusk, and they’re in the trees again.
“We’ve got a mulcher now, but in previous years, I’ve had to call the council to ask for extra tip vouchers because there is enough debris being stripped from the trees to fill five large trailer loads.
“These trees are so under stress that one day they will just have to be removed.”
She said the flock of about 5000 birds, spread across the town, has dwindled to half the number in previous years.
But the issue has divided opinions on a Diggers Rest community Facebook page with animal lovers calling for residents to leave the birds alone.
“Many residents might like the birds but that is probably because they are not the few that are having their gardens, homes and electrical lines destroyed by them,” Ms Vella said.
“I’m not asking for the corellas to be killed but I am asking for help to have them moved.
“I’ve had enough.”
