Lawn eating parrots

[Boringgeoff]

Hi,
The Twentyeight and Port Lincoln parrots are having a great time decimating the small patch of lawn at the back of our house.
Does anyone know of an effective deterrant for these destructive little pests?
We've previously tried a commercial dog/cat/rabbit/bird deterrant which didn't work. A home made mix of chillie/cayenne pepper in water sprayed on the grass, they loved the taste of that.
SWMBO is pulling her hair out nearly as much as the little mongrels are pulling the lawn out!
Any ideas?

Regards,
Geoff.

[_fly_]

Learn to love the parrots instead of the lawn?
I have cockatoo's that pick the pine cones apart and drop them all over my path. I can stand 3 feet away and they don't give a hoot (they are not owls).
And its not one or two, I get flocks of 20-30 going mad in that tree every morning.

[tea lady]

Put something they love even more in a feed dish? :shrug: Is there a differant type of grass that they wouldn't like so well? Do you want to hire my Jack Russel for a while? :D

[Boringgeoff]

Thanks Tea Lady, your Jack Russel is exactly what we need. If you could be so kind as to put him/her in a box and post asap.
Fly, we've got a love hate love relationship going here I love em she hates em they love her lawn. To be fair she only hates them when they're grazing.
It's only a small strip of lawn along the back verandah, as dust suppression and a change from the gravel and wood mulch. And it's seasonal, when there is other food available they leave the lawn alone.

Geoff.

[tea lady]

And it's seasonal, when there is other food available they leave the lawn alone.

Geoff.There's the clue. Ya need other food. Is there a food plant you could have in the garden they would rather eat? :shrug:

[Boringgeoff]

Hi Tea Lady,

When we first came here about 5 years ago I used to chuck a small amount of parrot mix out for them. I started off putting it on a table but they're very aggressive with each other, unlike correllas, galahs and other flocking parrots. One pair would get on the table and guts the lot whilst keeping the rest at bay.
So then I'd just chuck it out on the ground and even though we're only talking one handful of seed, every morning there were more and more of them.
Realising I was upsetting the balance I desisted with the feeding.
I have also installed a permanent water supply which probably keeps them hanging around, but cutting that out is not an option as it's used by a lot of other birds.
Now if I could just teach the magpies that 28s are a tasty meal......

Geoff.

[dabbler]

You could try astroturf but then you may not get them visiting at all, and that would be worse.

As others (including yourself) have already said, provide and encourage an alternative. Deterrants may not become generational parrot-knowledge (so your problem may reappear) but reliable food sources definitely will be known to all future parrots. At least that's how maggies, currawongs and butcher birds work. They're all good parents though.

[dabbler]

Just read your last post Geoff. Yep it sounds like all your fault. Just accept the blame and enjoy them....

I'm not familar with 28's and port lincolns. Care to post a pic ?
Will they feed from from suspended seed "cones"? I used to have a seed-glue recipe somewhere.

We stopped feeding when the maggie count rose to 80+ it was too much work cleaning bird fertilizer off the deck. They totally dominated the dozen or so currawongs but the butcher birds could always swoop in and outmanouver them. The butchies still visit with their young and juveniles.

[tea lady]

Sounds like they are aggressive like rainbow laurakeets. We get Rosellas, galahs, King Parrots and cockies, but the rainbows will win every time. I don't feed any more, but I do have the water dish. :cool: I use to put a bit of SMALL wild bird mix so then it was too much trouble for the cockies (who are the main problem round here cos they gnaw on houses when they get bored.) and the fire tail finches came in for that.

[tea lady]

:D Actually, your title makes it sound like the grass is eating the parrots. :rofl:

[Kidbee]

What about a netting cover over the strip for awhile! They may nick off and never return.

[Scott]

VERY loud noises at regular intervals. Something akin to a shotgun noise. And do not feed them, it's like an invitation for them to come back and eat your lawn. You can also try a scare crow, or whirlybirds placed around the lawn.

[Matador]

Hi Boringgeoff ,

For the parrots you could try making a hawk out of tin or ply hanging it high above where they are so it makes a dark shadow over them . Parrots don't like
hawks . That mix of yours with chillie/ cayenne pepper won't work on birds .
A vet told me birds are the only things that can eat hot stuff and doesn't worry
them . Make the hawk move around and hopefully that will deterrant them .


Cheers Graham

[_fly_]

I think you need to change your wifes name to stavro. How are you at making salad?
Woolworths - Greek couple scaring birds - YouTube

[Boringgeoff]

Thanks all
They've got plenty of natural tucker, we've got a few Marri trees with the big seed capsules ( you know May Gibbs' Cuddlepie and Snugglepot type) and they eat them and were already here when we arrived.
We've enclosed the vege garden to keep them out otherwise they'd eat everything as it came up. Any new native trees and shrubs we plant have to have a guard around them till they're well established.
We have identified over 40 species of birds on this property since we've been here and 28s and Port Lincolns are just two of them.
We've tried the owl statue and the tin hawk and you would have to be like Stavros with that one. They are frightened for about 10 seconds then back on the lawn.
The problem is not as high on my list of priorities as my wifes, she calls them "your bloody parrots", but I said I'd ask the question on this forum being as we're such a knowledgeable lot..........
Gotta dash...... parrots on the lawn. Keep the suggestions coming you knowledgeable lot, someone must have the answer.

Regards,
Geoff.

[tea lady]

A vet told me birds are the only things that can eat hot stuff and doesn't worry
them .


Cheers GrahamDunno about that. Mum put chilli sauce on the ends of a wooden book case to try and stop the dogs chewing it and they licked it off with glee.:rolleyes::U

Tell her not to pick on your parrots Geoff.:D

[Master Splinter]

Air rifle? What does parrot taste like, anyway???

[Matador]

Hi Master Splinter ,

Some people say if you want to eat a parrot . You have to put the parrots in a
saucepan and a rock when the rock is soft then you eat them . People in the
bush say they are harder then a rock .

Cheers Graham

[BRADFORD]

Well placed small pieces of lead can be effective, but I've come up with other methods that seem to work reasonably well.
We have shade sails over our vege patch, they don't seem to like going under that.
For our orchard I have put up poles with bike wheels on top, these wheels have 3, aprox 300mm lengths of 90mm stormwater PVC pipe split lengthwise attached to them, so they perform like a horizontal windmill. These are placed about 3-4 metres apart, not 100% success but I would give it about 90%.

Also the magpies we encourage around here seem to dislike the 28's and do attack them, this also seems to help.
Even with all this they are still a major pest, anything we try to grow that is green they will strip until it is dead. We have no trouble with any other birds, just these little mongrels.

[BRADFORD]

The oldtimers around used to make parrot pie, never tried it myself.

[A Duke]

You use turkey stuffing for the Christmas turkey, chicken stuffing for the roast chook and Pollyfilla for roast parrot.

[Boringgeoff]

My late father in law said parrot made good fishing bait, and I believe a lot of our early settlers ate them.
Bradford, I ran your bike wheel windmills idea past parrot enemy No one (PE#1) and she didn't seem very enthusiastic about them, I then floated the idea of going to a cattery and getting a bucket of cat poop and mixing it with water and spraying that on the grass, even less enthusiasm.
Since we've been here our magpie flock has only been between 6 and 7 birds. When I used to chuck a handful of seed out they'd arrive and pick out the sort they liked and every now and then grab a parrot by the tail and swing it around, so the parrots became very wary of them. When I stopped feeding them they seemed to ignore each other.

Geoff.

[tea lady]

Hi Master Splinter ,

Some people say if you want to eat a parrot . You have to put the parrots in a
saucepan and a rock when the rock is soft then you eat them . People in the
bush say they are harder then a rock .

Cheers GrahamI think the recipe goes " put parrot and boot in pot. Cover with water boil forever. When boot is soft chuck parrot away and eat boot.":D

In an effort to find out what sort of parrot you were talking about I found this. Port Lincoln or 28 Parrot Control (http://www.birdgard.com.au/bird-pest-control/bird-control/port-lincoln-28-parrot-control.htm)

Must be a pest if there is an industry around getting rid of them.:doh: Pretty things though.:rolleyes::U

[Bob38S]

Some sort of bird scarer is needed.

You can purchase a large hawk, falcon etc usually from a farm produce place - they are "floated" from a pole and turn in the breeze.

Apart from putting up with it it's about the best I can think of.

[ian]

you use turkey stuffing for the christmas turkey, chicken stuffing for the roast chook and pollyfilla for roast parrot.
groan

[Pac man]

Scare the birds and water the lawn with a motion control water sprayer / scarecrow (http://www.aussiebarkcontrol.com/hydroblast_scarecrow.htm)

[Boringgeoff]

Good morning all.

Pacman, that water scarecrow will bear further investigation looks like it may be a winner, thanks for the link.
TL there's no doubt they are pretty. They are members of the ring neck family ( they need their effing necks rung) The 28 and Port Lincoln are two seperate members of that family but they cross breed where their territories meet and thats what we've got here.
The suspended hawk definately doesn't work with them, they ignore it after a few minutes.
Thanks for the suggestions.

Geoff.

[bsrlee]

Tried fishing line?

On Rottnest Island (and now several other places) they run fans of fishing line from the eaves of the local restaurant to pegs in the ground to discourage sea gulls - and it works. I know of few birds that are more agressive in search of a free feed than gulls (No. 1 are Indian Mynahs which will attack people with food) and this keeps them out of the food service areas - they don't like flying into some sort of giant spider web.

[robbo37]

Toyota uses this method over the new car parking area to deter gulls. Seems to work.

[Boringgeoff]

Thanks Bsrlee,
I'll give that a go, I've got miles of fishing line.
Regards,
Geoff.