Which bird is it?
Pigeons are rock doves, the City of Sydney says, and one breeding pair can raise upwards of 18 young a year. Big flocks bring noise and mess, pigeons can carry disease, and food left out for them also brings rats.
Common mynas (often called Indian mynas) are 23 to 26 cm long, brown with a black head, a yellow bill, yellow legs and bare yellow skin around the eye, and they flash white wing patches in flight. The Australian Museum says their favourite nest sites are in the walls and ceilings of buildings, and roof voids are used as communal roosts.
Birds and Sydney's rules
Councils leave pigeons to owners
The City of Sydney says it doesn't offer pest control for pigeons, and owners with nesting or roosting pigeons should go to a pest controller. It also doesn't investigate or start control for cockatoos, Indian mynas or seagulls.
Native birds are protected
All native birds are protected in NSW, and a licence may be needed to harm one. The City of Sydney notes the Australian white ibis is protected too, which limits what can be done about it.
Mynas breed in the warm months
The common myna breeds from October to March along the east coast. That's when gaps in eaves and walls fill with nesting material.
Don't feed them
Asked whether people can feed pigeons, the City of Sydney says no: more food helps pigeons multiply.
What you can do, and what needs a ladder
You can
- Stop any feeding, yours or a neighbour's, and pick up spilled pet food and birdseed.
- Keep bins closed and balconies clear of food scraps.
- Note where the birds go in: a gap under a tile, a vent, a box gutter or an air conditioner bracket.
- Photograph the spot from the ground for the pest business.
Leave to a pest business
- Mesh over gaps in eaves, vents and roof spaces.
- Spikes, wires or netting on ledges, balconies and courtyards.
- Checking for eggs, chicks and native birds before anything is closed off.
- Clearing old nests and droppings from roof spaces and gutters.
Ask the bird proofing business
- Which birds are using the spot, and are any of them native?
- Will you check for nests, eggs or chicks before closing anything off?
- What will you install, mesh, spikes, wire or netting, and how long does it last in the weather?
- Will you clean out droppings and old nesting material, and how do you protect yourself and us from the dust?
- For a unit block: who signs off on work to the common property?
Our take on bird proofing in Sydney
Stop the food first, then get mesh or netting over the exact spots the birds use, ideally before myna breeding season starts in October. Tap Possum or birds and tell us where they're getting in.
Want someone to look at it?
Tell us what you've seen and your postcode, and a local pest business that handles exactly that calls you to talk it through.
