Why did the Indian Minor birds try and kill their childen by pecking them to death?”
KERRY O’BRIEN: It’s called the ‘Flying Rat’, has become more of a menace than the insects it was introduced to control and it is threatening the long-term survival of native parrots in urban habitats. It’s the Indian mynah — an aggressive, noisy, cocky little bird that’s taking over city backyards and parks. It’s a saga similar to that of the cane toad. Now, a team of researchers at the Australian National University is taking on the myna and, unlike the rather futile war that’s been waged against the cane toad, these scientists believe it’s one battle they can win. Jeremy Thompson reports. THE ‘INDIAN MYNA’ BY CJ DENNIS: “So I swagger and strut and I cuss and I swagger, I’m wise to the city’s hard way. A bit of a bloke and a bit of a bragger, I’ve always got plenty to say learned through’ knocking’ about since my people came out from the land at the back of Bombay”. PAUL RUSSELL, CANBERRA RESIDENT: They’re aggressive, they breed very quickly, they take over the territory of our nativ
