Community Indian Myna bird management program

Sunshine Coast Council supports residents to help manage Indian myna birds through its community trapping program. By working together, we can help reduce their impacts and protect our region's native wildlife.

Why manage Indian myna birds?

Indian mynas (Acridotheres tristis) are highly adaptable birds that thrive around people, particularly where food and nesting sites are easy to find.

They can:

aggressively compete with native birds for food and nesting hollows
take over hollows used by native birds and other wildlife
spread diseases and parasites
form large communal roosts that can create noise and mess
damage some fruit, vegetable and cereal crops.

How the trapping program works

Community involvement is an important part of the program. During 2025, community trapping resulted in 2,195 Indian myna birds being removed from the Sunshine Coast environment. Residents experiencing Indian myna impacts on their property can contact Council to join the trapping program.

Council's program can provide:

Indian myna trapping equipment
instructions on how to set up and use the trap
information to help correctly identify Indian mynas
humane euthanasia options, including access to an invasive bird euthanising bucket.

Learn how to identify Indian mynas

View Council's Pest Bird page or Indian myna fact sheet and identification information before you begin trapping. Correct identification is important.

Indian mynas can sometimes be confused with native birds, including the native noisy miner.

Make your property less attractive to Indian mynas

Trapping works best when it is combined with other actions around your property.

You can help by:

removing access to pet food and other food sources
avoiding feeding wild birds
securing poultry feed
reducing access to unwanted nesting sites around buildings
planting a variety of local native plants to provide habitat for native wildlife.

Small changes across many properties can support broader community efforts to manage Indian myna populations.

Wanting to report Indian myna sightings

Council does not require Indian myna sightings to be reported. However, residents can record sightings through MynaScan, a community mapping tool used to record Indian myna activity.

Getting involved

Interested in taking part in Council's Indian myna bird trapping program? Before requesting a trap, consider the following:

Are Indian myna birds regularly visiting your property, around 3 to 4 times a week?
Do you have a suitable trapping area away from domestic pets?
Can you make sure pet food and other food sources are secured and unavailable to other animals?
Are you willing to regularly monitor and manage the trap?
Are you willing to humanely euthanise captured Indian myna birds using the euthanasia equipment provided by Council?