Cockies to blame for street mess

DAMAGED buildings and sidewalks littered with rubbish have caused frustration for Wagga business owners who have been forced to clean up the mess created by white cockatoos. The birds have created havoc in the community and spent weeks making their presence known by chewing holes in parts of the Sturt Mall, removing signs from Duffy Bros and sharpening their beaks on the roof of the Historic Council Chambers where small leaks have needed to be repaired.Council was forced to install an automatic whistling bird-scarer after a cut-out owl did not deter the birds from gnawing on the building."Businesses that are affected need to find ways to manage the birds and their destruction," Wagga Mayor Kerry Pascoe said."The use of a bird-scarer has worked for council and may work for other affected businesses in the city."Bird expert and owner of Bob's Birdz-N-Pets, Darren Wood, said he was unsure of what had motivated the cockatoos to target the man-made structures as they typically were drawn to strip bark off trees along the Murrumbidgee riverbanks.He suggested the recent rains had enabled the birds to become well-fed and they had chewed at the buildings to relieve boredom. "They can be disruptive but it is part of the cockatoos' natural chewing behaviour," Mr Wood said. He said there had not necessarily been an increase in the number of cockatoos in the area, but the public perception the town had become overrun by birds had resulted from people coming into closer contact with them.The Sturt Mall will remove the foam and repaint part of the building after the cockatoos chewed through the facade leaving noticeable holes.Sturt Mall centre manager Barry Rowles said some people considered the cockatoos to be a pest and any damage they had caused would not be covered by insurance as they are classed as "rodents" by insurance companies.He said the feasting birds had become quite an attraction at the mall with people stopping to take photos of the birds in action.