Troubleshooting your Bird Problems
Paul Willock is a Consultant in Bird Management and has been involved in a range of Wildlife Management and Consultancy projects across Australia with fellow Bird Management Consultant Andrew Payne. They have 50 years of combined experience between them, working at ways to solve complex and difficult bird problems.
Andrew owned and ran Birds of Prey Centre on the Mornington Peninsula in the 1990’s and in the last 10 years he has been in Queensland running Paramount Adventure Centre on the Gold Coast and a building company specialising in building climbing walls for gyms and schools. Andrew is a builder by trade and like Paul he is also experienced in working with birds in the Film and Television industry.
Paul and Andrew are internationally renowned specialists in their field who are well known for their very professional and thorough approach. They are very accomplished and trained operators who understand the behaviour and reactions of targeted Pest Bird species,
Creative and eclectic approaches
There is not just a standard solution to every bird pest problem. It is about creating a bird program that will ensure that the birds will no longer remain a threat. The primary methods used by Paul and Andrew are shooting, trapping and gassing or shifting the birds through the use of a flying falcon.
EXAMPLE: CORELLA BIRD DAMAGE AT A GAS PLANT
An example of a project completed by Paul and Andrew was assessing bird damage at a Gas Plant. This project involved looking at the risks to human life and the financial cost if the problem was left unresolved, determining what species of birds were causing damage and the number of birds involved, and then making recommendations on how the situation could be remedied. In assessing the situation it was ascertained Corellas were the only birds at the gas plant or around the gas plant there were having a detrimental impact on the site and the two most obvious concerns facing the plant were damage to coated steel cabling and defection left by roosting birds.
What makes a successful bird program?
A successful bird program is about understanding how a bird thinks, recognising their level of intelligence and determining its motivations. For example, Short Billed Corellas or LIttle Corellas as they are known are a very social bird, they feel comfortable in numbers. The larger the flock the easier it is to shift the birds with flying falcons.
Corellas are highly intelligent problem solvers – they work as a team, and are investigative, playful and gregarious and the combination of their feet and beak make them agile climbers. Examples of motivationals for birds remaining in an areas are Food and Water, Shelter and Roosting, plus Breeding and Nesting.
Bird Proofing Premises, Property and Crops
Another part of the service suite provided by Bird Removal Consultants Paul and Andrew is rope access and bird proofing solutions. Once the birds are removed, then often there needs to be the removal of visual simulation such as wires so that the birds do not return – one way this is done is through heat shrinking new plastic on to the damaged wires. Some of the wiring can be at a significant height but Paul and Andrew are Working Safely at Heights accredited.
HOLISTIC APPROACH
A complete bird maintenance program can be provided for properties and premises. This can include ongoing monitoring of bird movements and behaviour, bird abatement work and permanent removal options