Mystery around the sudden deaths has once again left residents and peak bodies concerned, as a similar mass-death incident occurred in 2020.

Nhill resident Jenny Creek said she was showing visiting friends the lake on Sunday when she saw the dead birds.

"We are very sad to see it and we are confused as to why it is happening," she said.

"We thought 'dear, this looks dreadful'.

"For visitors it is not a good look to see dead birds in the lake. But we know people are cleaning them up as quickly as they can."

The lake's committee contacted the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning after a community member spotted the bird carcasses on Thursday, June 10.

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This is the second time dead corellas have been found in the waters of Nhill Lake, with a similar incident occurring in April 2020.

Mrs Creek said the community was confused as to how the past year's tests proved inconclusive.

"We have a lot of theories; it is interesting that it happened around the same time last year.

"We are surprised that last year they did some tests on them and said the results were inconclusive. You think they would be able to work out if they had done autopsies on the birds that they would have eaten."

Nhill Lake committee President Stuart Bone said the Department of Environment, Land, Water, and Planning collected the bodies to investigate.

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"It looks exactly the same, but hopefully they do find something through testing because we would like to know," he said.

"It could be an accidental thing, they've picked up a bit of pickled grain or a bit of Mouseoff out of a paddock, or someone has purposely tried to do something. We don't know."

Despite being considered a pest, corellas are native bird protected under the Wildlife Act, with severe penalties applying to anyone found guilty of an offence.

Mr Bone said the committee had searched the area for clues but could not find what could have caused the death.

The committee decided to maintain visitor access to the lake after Agriculture Victoria conducted a search and found no threat to visitors.

Mr Bone said he would wait to see what results from testing would show and emphasised the lake was most likely unconnected to the dead birds.

"We don't know what has caused it. We will do the best we can to get to the bottom of it and present the lake the best we can, but until we get to the bottom of it we are not sure what steps to take next," he said.

"It may have nothing to do with the lake at all. The bird's fly around during the day and then they come back and roost at the lake. They might have picked something up somewhere else and then fallen off the perch back where they roost."

Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning Grampians regional manager of Natural Environment Programs Michelle Butler said the agency investigated the cause of the deaths but had not yet reached a conclusion.

"DELWP is working with Agriculture Victoria to determine the cause of death of Corellas found at Nhill Lake and is awaiting the results of these investigations," she said.

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