Vice-president Glenn Carroll’s comments came as the club started utilising its gun permit to control the pest birds at Coughlin Park.

Mr Carroll has been instrumental in the resurfacing project of the ground at Coughlin Park. Corellas caused damage to the oval last summer and to avoid a similar program, the club applied for a populous permit to shoot corellas.  

He said volunteers shot an average of four birds a day. 

“We are only allowed to have three people down there at any time to shoot corellas, and at this stage we have only ever had two,” he said.

“We do have a pool of people we can call on if they are available. We have complied with the permit and put the signage up to tell people what is happening.

“The permit allows us to shoot between 6am and 9pm daily when there is no school. Given there is no school now until the end of January, it is possible we could be there during the day. That will depend on corella numbers.”

Mr Carroll said the club believe leaving the bodies of some dead birds on the oval had been a deterrent for other birds. 

“Instead of shooting lots of birds, we have found leaving a few of the dead ones on the ground deters the others from coming back to the area,” he said. 

“If we have shot four on one day, we would leave four on the ground. We try to replace them regularly and don’t want them to be left for too long.

“When we haven’t shot any birds for a few days it is unfortunate they might have to stay there for a while.”

Mr Carroll said he understood some residents might be upset by the sight of dead birds on the oval.

But he said the club could not risk its $200,000 investment in the new playing surface to go to waste. 

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) senior forest and wildlife officer Paul Ryan said he was unaware of any scientific evidence that indicated the presence of dead corellas served as a deterrent to other birds.

“Traditionally these birds would have gathered in areas of grassland and woodlands to feed on fresh shoots and seeds,” he said.

“Since agricultural practices have changed land use, these birds have adapted. Now they flock to places including townships, where food, water and roost sites are often available.

“DELWP advocates non-lethal control methods for managing wildlife, such as scaring deterrents using loud noises and bird of prey like objects.

“Only once non-lethal methods have been exhausted, can lethal control be considered. As corellas are smart, a multi-method approach is often most effective.”

Mr Carroll said people who were concerned about the shooting of corellas at Coughlin Park could phone him on 0427 123 654.