BIMAG Operations are currently suspended during the Pandemic, unitil further notice.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Current Shed Opening Hours
The HQ depot for BIMAG is now receiving birds on the following days:
MON, TUE, THUR, SAT, from 4-5 pm
These new hours have been prompted by trapper feedback about timing, trapper visit patterns, and the availability of volunteers to man the shed.
The HQ depot for BIMAG is now receiving birds on the following days:
MON, TUE, THUR, SAT, from 4-5 pm
These new hours have been prompted by trapper feedback about timing, trapper visit patterns, and the availability of volunteers to man the shed.
Latest News
- Currently we have nearly 300 traps operating throughout the city, and have 15 more available for prospective trappers. Come in and see us at the Cheltenham Bird Shed. We’re open 4-5 pm on Mon Tues, Thurs, Sat.
- If you feel you’ve done all you can to get your local birds and help the Baysider environment, and would like to relinquish your trap please let us know and return it to the Cheltenham Bird Shed when we can receive it and sign you off –4-5 on Mon Tues, Thurs and Sat.
July 2016 - UPDATE for BIMAG Trappers
The results of the trial are now in and you’ve contributed to a major conservation success in Bayside!
Here are some facts and figures to give you a better idea of what your help is achieving. These data come from the report of Grant Linley who has been handling the trial analysis side of things for BIMAG:
For more information see “Has a cull of the Common myna (Acridotheres tristis) in Bayside been effective?” -- Grant Linley 2016
The results of the trial are now in and you’ve contributed to a major conservation success in Bayside!
Here are some facts and figures to give you a better idea of what your help is achieving. These data come from the report of Grant Linley who has been handling the trial analysis side of things for BIMAG:
- Over the culling period ( 01/04/15 –31/03/16 ) the number of Indian Mynas per 1km of monitored transect in Bayside dropped from 7.45 sightings pre-cull to 3.27 during the cull, whilst over the same period Kingston was 7.58 pre-cull and 7.48 during the cull. In short, your efforts have resulted in halving the numbers of Indian Mynas in some of their traditional habitats.
- The number of Indian Mynas euthanized in the Council-funded shed from September 2015 to end April (conclusion of the trial) was almost 1000. However, a substantial proportion of trappers (using Council funded traps) preferred to put down their captures themselves (especially in the pre-shed era) and did not use the services of either vets or BIMAG. From reports to the trial monitor and from verbal reports, the total number of IM birds caught and disposed of during the trial is well in excess of 2000. This is a conservative estimate. The rate of captures brought to the Cheltenham shed in recent winter months has declined as trappers in old areas report no birds around. However, traps are being recycled to new trappers at the rate of three a week so it’s clear the birds are still out there.
- As of end July, there are 250 traps operating within Bayside City, involving approximately 500 plus adult residents. With children and other trappers who have recycled their trap over the year we estimate that around 1000 people have actively been involved supportively in some way in the project. This is about 1% of the city’s population, a very fine level of active involvement and support for any community project. Almost 25% of traps have been recycled (used by multiple trappers) and new trappers are being recruited right now in winter at roughly three a week.
- Logistically, the culling program has been very efficient in that non-target bird captures have been very low (released) compared with other programmes around Australia. White bread is attractive for Indian Mynas but also leads to other birds being interested. The best food (statistically) for capturing Indian Mynas only is colourful small-sized, dried cat food, and smaller versions of dog food.
- The trial was conducted only on private land in Bayside, with no trapping allowed in the 200+ parks, five golf courses, the foreshore reserves, street plantations and other public lands, where ( according to anecdotal evidence and BIMAG sightings ) the great majority of the Indian Mynas roost.
- Highest densities of birds sighted occurred in summer months. From the start of the cull, in April 2015, an immediate decline in common mynas was evident in Bayside. The decline continued throughout the trial period in Bayside, whilst Kingston remained unchanged throughout the year.
- “Species richness” was found to have increased significantly in Bayside during the 12 month cull period, whilst within Kingston it decreased slightly in during the cull period. In other words, Bayside is starting to get some of its traditional native bird species back, whilst surrounding areas –which do not cull – have not.
- During the cull in Bayside, only a very small number of other bird species were caught (and released) as the traps used were designed to ensnare birds with the same physical characteristics as Indian Mynas. The number of IM birds caught each month was highest after the breeding season (October-March) due to the higher densities of young individuals which are dispersing after being pushed out of adult territory.
- Whilst the cull has been effective in Bayside there is no reason to rest on our laurels. A permanent reduction of Indian Mynas is frustrated by several factors. The Bayside area is known as a population “sink”. Indian Mynas are highly territorial and will continually force younger and weaker individuals out of their home range, into surrounding areas, in turn to turn out the weaker native bird species. Bayside is now more attractive than ever to the Indian Mynas resident in the non-trapping environs of Kingston and Glen Eira as it presents an area of plentiful resources with little intraspecific competition. This also happens within Bayside where community action to reduce Mynas on private property are also creating “sinks” for Mynas living within the city on public lands.
For more information see “Has a cull of the Common myna (Acridotheres tristis) in Bayside been effective?” -- Grant Linley 2016
FUTURE DIRECTIONS FOR BIMAG?
BIMAG has presented a report to Council in addition to the scientific trail report. Some key findings and suggestions are:-
1. Maintain the Cheltenham Park shed or depot or something similar in a more central position. It is not really convenient for trappers in the northern parts of the city and location and opening hours is probably a major factor in trappers deciding to euthanize birds themselves. The shed stores the traps and the CO2 bottles and provides a repair/distribution function.
2. Commission a contractor ( this could be BIMAG, an individual (s), a service club, a charity) to oversee the programme; This is the current circumstance.
4. Once Council has reaffirmed its policy, then some change in BIMAG’s structure might be required.
5. Very little is known about the birds’ habits and density of populations in the city. The efficiency of the programme could be substantially improved by more detailed research about the movements and behaviour within the city and region of the Indian Mynas; this could be done with local schools and bird-watching and environmental or academic groups.
6. Encourage nearby Councils to introduce similar programmes; one trade-off would be using the Cheltenham Shed for euthanizing birds caught in Kingston and Glen Eira and also having facilities in those cities help with Brighton and East Brighton birds. In short, aim for integration of anti-Indian Myna actions across three cities.
7. An option with respect to public lands under licensed or leased use would be to require the operators to undertake regular trapping programmes, with caught birds supplied to the Cheltenham depot.
8. Indian Myna culling should be viewed within the prism of a broader environmental approach by Bayside Council, including re-branding of the city as Botanica Bayside, greater emphasis on botanic interpretations and plantings and re-vegetation, management of public lands accordingly and efforts to re-populate the city with native species of birds, and broader educational measures aimed at the general populace to make it aware of the value of its natural assets.
BIMAG has presented a report to Council in addition to the scientific trail report. Some key findings and suggestions are:-
1. Maintain the Cheltenham Park shed or depot or something similar in a more central position. It is not really convenient for trappers in the northern parts of the city and location and opening hours is probably a major factor in trappers deciding to euthanize birds themselves. The shed stores the traps and the CO2 bottles and provides a repair/distribution function.
2. Commission a contractor ( this could be BIMAG, an individual (s), a service club, a charity) to oversee the programme; This is the current circumstance.
- keeping records of traps allocated to citizens, and received back
- repairing traps/ordering new traps and discarding unworkable ones
- keeping a catch tally
- manning the shed on a four or six-day-a-week basis (for 1.5-2 hours a day)
- euthanizing and disposing of the birds
- communicating with trappers
- maintaining all the equipment and CO2 supplies
4. Once Council has reaffirmed its policy, then some change in BIMAG’s structure might be required.
5. Very little is known about the birds’ habits and density of populations in the city. The efficiency of the programme could be substantially improved by more detailed research about the movements and behaviour within the city and region of the Indian Mynas; this could be done with local schools and bird-watching and environmental or academic groups.
6. Encourage nearby Councils to introduce similar programmes; one trade-off would be using the Cheltenham Shed for euthanizing birds caught in Kingston and Glen Eira and also having facilities in those cities help with Brighton and East Brighton birds. In short, aim for integration of anti-Indian Myna actions across three cities.
7. An option with respect to public lands under licensed or leased use would be to require the operators to undertake regular trapping programmes, with caught birds supplied to the Cheltenham depot.
8. Indian Myna culling should be viewed within the prism of a broader environmental approach by Bayside Council, including re-branding of the city as Botanica Bayside, greater emphasis on botanic interpretations and plantings and re-vegetation, management of public lands accordingly and efforts to re-populate the city with native species of birds, and broader educational measures aimed at the general populace to make it aware of the value of its natural assets.
Apr 2016 - Update of Operations
The Council-funded trial is ended as of 31st March 2016 with the first traps being distributed on April 1 last year. Bayside City Council is to decide in May whether to continue the programme in the same or another form or discontinue it. Current operations until a decision are funded by council. The programme requires very few resources to maintain operations; to expand it will require a similar commitment as in the past.
The Council-funded trial is ended as of 31st March 2016 with the first traps being distributed on April 1 last year. Bayside City Council is to decide in May whether to continue the programme in the same or another form or discontinue it. Current operations until a decision are funded by council. The programme requires very few resources to maintain operations; to expand it will require a similar commitment as in the past.
- We now have 251 traps out within the community and have a trap turnover of about 2-3% per month. Traps were distributed progressively over the year with about 30-40 traps out before June, 170 by August, and at about 11 new traps per week since then.
- Currently we have approximately 5-600 residents involved in trapping and supporting our programme. Throughout the trial and with trap turnover, an estimated 800+ residents have been involved—roughly 1% of the city’s population –reflecting the widespread support for the campaign.
- Since we opened the Cheltenham shed on 31/8 and have conducted our own euthanasia programme, we have dealt with 923 birds. Because of closures during the holiday season this is effectively a little more than 5 months. This equates to 5.6 birds every day.
- To our knowledge, Bayside Indian Myna Action Group is the only community-based IM group in Australia to offer council-funded euthanasia services and trap management services; all other groups supported by local councils simply distribute traps, and act a forum and support base for trappers, who euthanize the birds themselves.
- The existence of a base shed for holding, storing and distributing traps, plus the availability of euthanizing services is a key element in mobilising residents otherwise deterred by the prospect of having to personally dispose of the captive birds.
- Only 14% of our trappers are using our shed to put down the birds, with most birds contributed by 35 trappers.
- The record tally for one trapper (using the shed ) is 97 birds in five months, including twenty in one trap. We know others using our traps have similar tallies, and indeed there are long-term trappers (pre-dating the Council trial) with hundreds of caps.
- It may seem that productivity of 251 traps is relatively low but it must be remembered that the current trap volume has been worked up gradually over a year; daily decisions to trap are subject to an immense number of variables (such as holidays, weather, sickness, visitors in the house, other chores, pet conflicts, entertainments, opening hours of the shed and a host more); trapping does not ensure success, and there is some evidence from other areas that the birds are becoming wary of traps.
- Using our trapping experience to date and extrapolating for a full year i.e. to end August 2016, it is expected that the number of Indian Mynas euthanized at the Shed will exceed 2000 birds. It is not unreasonable to assume that a similar volume of birds will have been dispatched by other trappers using council-provided traps.
- If traps are delivered immediately when they are requested by residents, trap productivity increases immensely. This seems to be because the birds are right there, the new trappers are enthusiastic and actively trap, they try new ‘bait’ and new trap placement, and are dedicated to getting rid of “their birds.” Once they have trapped the ones around, they put the trap away and hold on to it “in case they come back.”
- Newer ( recently distributed) traps are always more productive (at the Shed), but it appears that experienced trappers tend not to use the BIMAG facilities, treating the birds as they would caught rats.
- One thing that has become obvious to us is that we know relatively little about the Indian Mynas’ behaviour. In Bayside the birds seem to move en mass frequently whilst other nesting pairs congregate around homes and chimneys and downpipes. We know from observation that there are many hundreds of birds living in Kingston and which daily fly across to feast on the pickings in Brighton and Brighton East.
- Particular IM hot-spots are in Highett (all), parts of Hampton East, Brighton East (close to and both sides of Nepean Highway), the Church Street restaurants in Brighton, Beaumaris ( east of Reserve Road), Sandringham. Other areas where they are prevalent include the entire foreshore region ( 121 were counted one morning on and around Trey Bit Reserve), roadside plantations in Hampton, numerous roosting trees in Black Rock and Beaumaris, Kingston Cemetery, Cheltenham Park (!), and many other places including public lands.
The results of the Trial are still being compiled but preliminary figures give the average sightings of Indian Mynas along 1 km transects around Bayside City now at 3.27, down dramatically from 7.45 prior to the trial’s inception. The sightings of Indian Mynas in the “control” transects within Kingston City remain at the same level (7.57 to 7.48). The campaign is working...
1st Dec 2015 - BIMAG to enjoy Christmas 2015 just like everyone else : )
Please note that BIMAG’s volunteer workers will be taking advantage of the Christmas cheer to have a holiday of their own.
The BIMAG shed will be closed from Saturday 12th December (last bird-receiving day is Thursday 10th December) and will re-open in mid-January. All trappers may continue to trap if they are using their own resources to euthanize the birds but the Cheltenham shed will be shut from Saturday 12th December until mid-January 2016. No birds will be handled over that period. Trappers will be advised of the opening date in January 2016 in advance.
Have a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year period and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2016!
Please note that BIMAG’s volunteer workers will be taking advantage of the Christmas cheer to have a holiday of their own.
The BIMAG shed will be closed from Saturday 12th December (last bird-receiving day is Thursday 10th December) and will re-open in mid-January. All trappers may continue to trap if they are using their own resources to euthanize the birds but the Cheltenham shed will be shut from Saturday 12th December until mid-January 2016. No birds will be handled over that period. Trappers will be advised of the opening date in January 2016 in advance.
Have a very happy and safe Christmas and New Year period and we look forward to welcoming you back in 2016!
2nd Sep 2015 - New Cheltenham Shed – Opening Hours for business
Our new shed is open and receiving birds from trappers. It now also has a small stock of traps for distribution.
The layout allows secure extraction of the birds from traps and is also close to parking and access from the street (Park Road)
It is helpful if you can ring ahead to let us know you’re coming, or if you’re going to be late.
We apologize for any inconvenience for the changes in timetable.
We still urgently need volunteers to man the shed during the hours we are open to receive birds
Our new shed is open and receiving birds from trappers. It now also has a small stock of traps for distribution.
The layout allows secure extraction of the birds from traps and is also close to parking and access from the street (Park Road)
It is helpful if you can ring ahead to let us know you’re coming, or if you’re going to be late.
We apologize for any inconvenience for the changes in timetable.
We still urgently need volunteers to man the shed during the hours we are open to receive birds
28th Aug 2015 - A NEW LEVEL OF OPERATIONS FOR BIMAG
NEW PREMISES
Starting from this weekend, BIMAG will be operating from its new premises in Cheltenham Park in Park Road. For the period of the trial, the Bayside City Council has generously made available the Gardeners’ Shed just inside the park on the left, for delivery of all birds caught in the council- funded Indian Myna culling trial. Comprising two small rooms it allows BIMAG to store and repair traps, receive and consolidate birds. It is centrally located, near good access and parking, and off the beaten track and in a natural setting.
NEW SYSTEM
BIMAG members will receive the birds and check them into the consolidating aviary, noting the catcher, the trap number, the condition and species of the birds caught, time taken and other details. At the end of the open time BIMAG will take all the birds deposited to participating and rostered vets for euthanasia. The birds will not be transhipped from the time of arrival at BIMAG, and will be treated humanely up to the time of putting down.
This system minimises handling, enables checks on condition of the trapped birds, removes the problems encountered by individuals visiting the vets, and allows individual trappers to swap stories and obtain expert advice. It will also enable us to ensure there are no mistakes with respect to bird species being caught and to maintain closer account of numbers and distribution of those being caught. Trappers will also be able to give us direct and on-going feed-back…which is very important.
All the vets in the previous system are being approached with a view of them participating in the new system which has been designed with greater efficiency and their specific needs in mind. Judging by initial reactions it is felt that the new system will be more palatable to them and to other vets previously not wanting to be involved.
A work-up time of several weeks is envisaged so in that interval, birds collected at the Gardeners’ Shed will be euthanased by BIMAG members under the auspices of a qualified vet.
NEW PREMISES
Starting from this weekend, BIMAG will be operating from its new premises in Cheltenham Park in Park Road. For the period of the trial, the Bayside City Council has generously made available the Gardeners’ Shed just inside the park on the left, for delivery of all birds caught in the council- funded Indian Myna culling trial. Comprising two small rooms it allows BIMAG to store and repair traps, receive and consolidate birds. It is centrally located, near good access and parking, and off the beaten track and in a natural setting.
NEW SYSTEM
BIMAG members will receive the birds and check them into the consolidating aviary, noting the catcher, the trap number, the condition and species of the birds caught, time taken and other details. At the end of the open time BIMAG will take all the birds deposited to participating and rostered vets for euthanasia. The birds will not be transhipped from the time of arrival at BIMAG, and will be treated humanely up to the time of putting down.
This system minimises handling, enables checks on condition of the trapped birds, removes the problems encountered by individuals visiting the vets, and allows individual trappers to swap stories and obtain expert advice. It will also enable us to ensure there are no mistakes with respect to bird species being caught and to maintain closer account of numbers and distribution of those being caught. Trappers will also be able to give us direct and on-going feed-back…which is very important.
All the vets in the previous system are being approached with a view of them participating in the new system which has been designed with greater efficiency and their specific needs in mind. Judging by initial reactions it is felt that the new system will be more palatable to them and to other vets previously not wanting to be involved.
A work-up time of several weeks is envisaged so in that interval, birds collected at the Gardeners’ Shed will be euthanased by BIMAG members under the auspices of a qualified vet.
28th Aug 2015 – HELP WANTED FOR NEW INDIAN MYNA PROCESSING SYSTEM
We have completely revamped the scheme so as to avoid the pitfalls of the former system and to streamline operations going forward. Now we believe we have a system whereby vets will be able to re-join and make it more efficient. We are currently canvassing their support levels but we have at least one of the originals ready to participate.
With the new system and with our new location at Cheltenham Park, we need urgent volunteer assistance.
We need your help:
If you’d like to help –even for a short time –let us know.
Please contact your friends also –we need new trappers all the time. Traps are continually circulating as trappers catch “their birds” and return their traps as they go on holidays, get tired of it, get rid of the local menaces. A natural float at any one time is about 15% of total traps allocated ; i.e. they are floating from new to old trappers.
We have completely revamped the scheme so as to avoid the pitfalls of the former system and to streamline operations going forward. Now we believe we have a system whereby vets will be able to re-join and make it more efficient. We are currently canvassing their support levels but we have at least one of the originals ready to participate.
With the new system and with our new location at Cheltenham Park, we need urgent volunteer assistance.
We need your help:
- On the executive …a number of roles are becoming available
- Managing and staffing the Gardeners’ Shed ( Cheltenham Park) drop and consolidation process`
- Assisting with euthanasia and delivering to vets on a regular basis
- Liaising with trappers, socializing and follow-up
- Rousabouts –filling multiple essential general roles
If you’d like to help –even for a short time –let us know.
Please contact your friends also –we need new trappers all the time. Traps are continually circulating as trappers catch “their birds” and return their traps as they go on holidays, get tired of it, get rid of the local menaces. A natural float at any one time is about 15% of total traps allocated ; i.e. they are floating from new to old trappers.
