Competitive Behaviour in Common Mynas: An Investigation into Potential Impacts on Native Fauna and Solutions for Management

The overall conclusion of this work is that, contrary to previous thought, Common Mynas probably do not represent a significant threat to native wildlife in most Australian urban environments. However, they continue to be considered with vitriol by the public. I investigated this attitude through a survey asking for the opinions of nest box owners and found that, despite their dislike for the species, uptake of nest boxes by Common Mynas did not generally lead to them removing or disabling their nest box, or decrease their overall enjoyment of the experience, suggesting that Common Mynas were not having an indirect effect on native species in this way. In response to an ardent desire from residents for a way to exclude Common Mynas from nest boxes, I also investigated a commercially available structure known as the anti-myna baffle design, which is used to prevent Common Mynas from accessing nest boxes while still allowing access by parrot species, and recommendations for the improvement of this structure have been included for the consideration of interested parties. Overall, the collection of works embodied in this thesis are vital to our understanding of the behaviours of introduced species, and have the potential to prevent substantial resources being wasted attempting to control a species that is actually relatively benign.