European settlement and our desire for large, open, grassed spaces create ideal habitats for the Little Corellas. The birds appreciate open space so they can see danger coming; freshly mowed and watered grass supply never-ending food and many trees to sit in between feeds.

Temperatures are rising due to climate change and Little Corellas and other species are moving to cooler areas over summer. There is anecdotal evidence that smaller numbers of Little Corellas came to this area many years ago, and now, in ever increasing numbers and staying longer due to the ideal conditions available.

Little Corellas love everything that we do to make our landscapes friendlier for our use. Watered grasses, Aleppo pines and open space suit them perfectly. Native grasses, many shrubs and no introduced trees, i.e. a natural, pre-European environment is better to deter Little Corellas from remaining.

Little Corellas are very home orientated, meaning they return to the same nesting locations every year, and as they see local areas as their "home", they will continue to return irrespective of the disruptive methods used.

Where the Little Corellas go over winter is unknown. They are a summer problem for Councils as far north as the Flinders Ranges and are probably coming from even further north and east. Likely locations are the Menindee Lakes and Coongie Lakes/Cooper Creek near Innamincka, where there are permanent water holes and many large trees suitable for nesting.

State Government are planning to track the birds over summer to determine their local movements and to find where they over-winter.

In their naturally tough and dry environment where the Little Corellas spend winter, they work hard to gather their diet of seeds, some grassroots and any other suitable tucker, which both manages their beaks and tires them out.

Here, conditions are ideal. Large, wide-open spaces with irrigated grasses mean the birds can feed quickly and safely, their beaks are not worn down and they have surplus energy.

And they are probably bored, particularly the younger birds and some of what they are doing is youthful exuberance, like any teenager and they need to keep their beaks short, which is partly where the damage to trees, lights, wiring and conduit and anything else that requires friction against the beak comes in.

To feel safe whilst in trees, the Little Corellas remove foliage to improve their view of the world and incoming danger; however, the birds are defoliating the trees beyond the need of creating better sightlines.

Over the past 5 or 6 years, Little Corellas arrive in late spring from around November to May and flock throughout the riverfront area. One of the Little Corella behaviours is to “shear” thin steams containing leaves from the canopies of trees. Due to this continuous behaviour and the high numbers of birds present, a significant degree of defoliation is occurring annually, particularly to significant Eucalypts at Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge. New growth is shorn off in spring and the shearing of other leaves continues throughout the period that the birds are present.

Trees evolve to cope with adverse conditions that they are subject to during their lifespan such as abiotic (non-living) drought, storms, and biotic (living) attack from insects and disease. They naturally shed leaves and sometimes branches in order to balance the demands placed upon them. However, the loss of large amounts of foliage, on an annual basis, particularly new growth, robs the tree of the ability to replenish essential energy stores via photosynthesis.

The result of defoliation by Little Corella grazing of the magnitude that these trees are being subjected to, can lead to tree deaths. Currently, there is one dead tree and one other in serious decline at the southern end of Sturt Reserve, with other trees suffering heavy defoliation by Little Corellas.

While the River Red Gum (Eucalyptus camaldulensis) is among the most resilient members of the Eucalyptus species, sometimes even these trees cannot withstand sustained attack by Little Corellas.

Little Corellas are a native species whose movement, numbers and occurrence is no-bodies fault. They are not declared pests like rabbits, foxes and other introduced feral species and so are not the legislated responsibility of the State Government.

Nor are Little Corellas the sole responsibility of your Council. Little Corellas are a State and Australia wide issue and the Local Government Association is lobbying for the State Government to take a more active role in finding and implementing effective control measures. State Government prepared a Little Corella management plan describing the control measures provided here, however, the only effective control is long term landscaping of open spaces to deter Little Corellas from ground feeding, a range of disruptive actions and to attract them to sanctuaries.

Council is exploring alternative control measures to culling and other noise options as none of these are shown to provide a permanent solution. Due to the limited success of culling in public areas, Council is not pursuing a cull as its main control method for large areas or long-term use.

Council is however, focussed on protecting assets, particularly trees at Sturt Reserve, Murray Bridge and will only undertake a humane culling program at Sturt Reserve in 2021-22, aimed at early arrival of birds in an attempt to deter the larger flocks.

As Sturt Reserve is such a popular location for tourists and residents, any humane culling program will take place for a very limited time only, and in a limited location requiring traffic and people control for everyone's safety.

In addition, Little Corellas are a problem at Wellington, where Council is undertaking a controlled program of humane culling at that location.

Little Corellas are acknowledged as an abundant species by the Department of Environment and Water.  Humane culling using techniques such as shooting or netting and gassing are permitted and may be used to control birds.

Poisoning is not permitted.

Across Australia, many methods are used giving mixed success. Little Corellas are very smart and very long-lived, up to 40 years. They quickly work out if a deterrent is an actual threat or can be ignored.

Methods including noisemakers: shotgun blanks, gas-guns, whips, starting pistols, banging sticks, work and work well with persistence but only for a short period. Drones can also be effective as a deterrent, except it is a costly method to maintain, as are birds of prey.

The creation of sanctuaries works well to provide a safe haven, together with deterrents to keep the birds unsettled and moving.

Other Councils are also achieving some success with extra plantings and denying the Corellas of easily accessible water.

Changing environments, without open spaces and lower level planting of shrubs to provide a visual barrier from danger, makes the birds uncomfortable and unwilling to stay.

This, coupled with a sanctuary located where damage and noise are less impacting combined with other deterrents can be effective.