Council untangles Leigh Street after bird backlash
The Adelaide City Council will remove netting from Leigh Street trees after displaced birds flocked to Rundle Mall, where they are dying in numbers.
Netting will be removed from four Leigh Street trees today in response to the tree martins colliding into Rundle Mall shop windows.
The birds roosted in the callery pear trees on Leigh Street but turned to the mall after the Adelaide City Council netted nine Leigh Street trees last year.
The nets will be removed from the trees located on the Hindley Street and Currie Street laneway entrances, but no trees directly over Leigh Street bars or dining establishments will have nets removed.
The netting program cost the council about $15,000 and came after months of exploring options to control the bird population, which was causing public health concerns and a nuisance to traders.
Removing the netting comes after videos of birds being injured and dying by colliding into Adelaide’s Apple Store window, where mall trees were reflected.
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The footage was widely viewed on Reddit and Facebook, and councillor Henry Davis told last night’s council meeting there are “a lot of questions” about what the council would do about it.
“The issue is that the footage is extremely distressing from Rundle Mall, which is why I think it’s an urgent matter,” Davis said.
The council administration has been in talks with Apple management and other Rundle Mall traders.
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In addition to removing the netting, the council will also adjust lighting around the infrastructure in Rundle Mall to combat the reflection of trees. They will also support Rundle Mall traders and retailers to apply window treatments such as anti-reflective film or window stickers to prevent bird collisions.
The birds flock to the trees at sunset, when the reflection of the trees fill the windows of Apple and surrounding stores in the centre of the mall. This picture: Helen Karakulak/InDaily
Cleaning of Rundle Mall has been increased due to the mass bird droppings and there will be signage installed in the mall this week to inform the public of the roosting zone.
Another support measure mentioned in last night’s meeting was temporary parking permits for volunteer animal rescue groups that have assisted with bird rescue in the mall.
Lord Mayor Jane Lomax-Smith told the council meeting last night that, according to Green Adelaide, even if the netting is removed, the birds likely won’t go back to Leigh Street because they’re roosting in the mall now.
When InDaily asked Green Adelaide last year where the birds would be redirected after the Leigh Street nets were put up, we were told it was anticipated the birds would go to trees on nearby Bank Street or North Terrace.
Lomax-Smith said the council are “victims of our own success” as they have been planting more trees around the city and creating new habitats for the birds.
“There’s been a dramatic change in development in the metropolitan areas, tree martins apparently used to go into ravines and high wall areas,” she said.
“With the development in the suburbs, they’ve been forced into the city, and they appear to be roosting in places with narrow streets and low traffic, like Leigh Street.”
The council has engaged a wildlife specialist to help them make decisions about how to combat the bird migration and are working with Green Adelaide and the Department for Environment and Water to determine next steps.
