IBISES have been driving the neighbourhood mad ever since the birds moved in about two months ago.
Create a free account to read this article
or signup to continue reading
And since then Elvio Alessio has been driving Hurstville Council mad trying to get something done about them.
Mr Alessio, of Bassett Street, Hurstville, reckons the birds have more rights than ratepayers, despite their dreadful habits.
He said they screech, fight and poo endlessly, turning the footpath and road into a putrid mess.
"They start screaming and fighting at daylight, then most of them go away for the rest of the day and return between 5pm and 6pm and start all over again," Mr Alessio said.
"School kids walk on the middle of the road to avoid the mess and we can't even go outside our front yard because it stinks.
"I knew the birds are protected but I did not know they paid rates because the council has not been prepared to do anything about them."
Mr Alessio said at least 25 ibises moved into two palms outside his apartment block after the council made the birds' original King Georges Road home uninhabitable.
"The council planted all these wonderful palm trees, which attracted ibis, then they pruned the trees in a pineapple shape to deprive them of a nesting place — so they came here," he said.
"These things are a menace — they breed like rabbits, you can't shoot them and they eat anything. They scavenge through the bins and they drag plastic bags out.
"Enough is enough; the birds might have rights but we should have rights too."
After much back and forth between the council and himself, Mr Alessio got on to Cr Vince Badalati, who promised action.
There would be no pineapple pruning. The trees would be chopped down.
But where will the ibises go then?
A Hurstville Council spokeswoman said they had no specific policy on controlling ibises.
"Ibises are protected under the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1971," she said.
"However, council has obtained a licence from the National Parks and Wildlife Service to remove and/or relocate ibises from Bassett Street, Hurstville."
She said the licence enabled the council to disturb the nest, capture the chicks and relocate them to WIRES or other wildlife carers' organisations.
"The ibises are drawn by food sources and tend to roost nearby," she said.
"The most common food source is from garbage bins without lids."
But she did not say what would happen to mum and dad ibis when they came home to discover the trees chopped down and the chicks had disappeared.
Are Ibises are menance?