Trapping Myna Birds

Predator Control strategy
#21

Yep I disagree, got 15 the other day.

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#22

Good effort! Where are you and what were you using for bait?

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#23

Hi Cam,

I use dried Dog Food and a few pieces of white bread, near the entrance.

Only using white bread outside the cage, helps other birds not going into the trap.

I find once you have your first Myna, others will try and join them in cage. I was thinking of adding a Mirror to cage, as I heard that the reflection of the birds attracts them into the cage. But haven’t done this yet,

Thanks…Gary

#24

Hi Gary

People seem to have different experiences. Adrian Gilbert was the one who said only use white bread (which worked well for me) whereas in Oz they say dog/cat food which for they weren’t interested in at all. But maybe I needs to get a specific flavour. I even dyed it red for the buggas, but no cigar on that one. In winter I found that the caller bird made little difference and I was able to get bird in regardless. But there could be many factors to that. Adrian said not to prefeed outside the cage, but I don’t think it’s a bad idea. Do you have sparrows getting into the cage? I found them to be smarter and more able to get out to door and maybe 30% of them could squeeze through the mesh. They’re unlikely to go for the dog food I would have thought. Cheers, Cam

#25

I have 2 PG Mynas traps available for anyone who wants to pick them up from Waiau Pa (Franklin). I made them myself, but will give them free to anyone who’s going to use them for the their intended purpose. I’m moving and can’t take them with me.
Cam

#26

Hello Cam, do you still have these traps available?
Thanks Maihi

#27

Sorry, the last one was sold on Trade Me. I have some left-over mesh that I may sell at some point if that is of interest. I’d need to see how much is left. ~Cam

#28

Thanks for the response, no problem, I have some mesh and will give making the trap a go. May I ask if you had much success with it? Any tips? Thanks

#29

I think I wrote most of this above, but here’s what i sent someone else last week as a summary

I had reasonable success myna trapping, but best if more people were doing it of course. I caught 1000, but they just kept coming even though I never saw more than about 20 at a time.
• I got the super cheap white sandwich bread loaves from Woolworths and created a U shaped peg to pin about 4-5 slices in the middle of the first cage.
• Brown bread was no good. Cat biscuits were laughed at.
• Only tend to your trap in hours of darkness or they will catch on. I just went out after sunset each night and put frozen bread in.
• I put a corflute roof on and added a water bottle.
• Best done in winter when cold, wet & windy. They need to eat more when cold. Probably won’t work at all in summer as they’ll be busy nesting and they’ll be warmer.
• Max catch was 29 in one trap in one day, but varied wildly with 5-11 being a common catch.
• Scatter a small amount of white bread outside to get your first birds interested.
• I’d say put the trap close to some tree branches to deter hawks which can get interested and scare the mynas off.
• Once you have your first bird, you’re on the gravy train. Always keep a decoy bird after each cull.
• Most catches will happen in the morning when they’re hungriest.
• I live on an orchard and the flock in on windy days. Windy and cold days were best for me.
• Sometimes caught sparrows, but they nest on our buildings, so not a fan. Very rare to catch anything else.

Pretty awesome traps really as they are quite species specific. I just need a way to automate the culling each night!
Cam

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