Many residents and tourists alike may have seen a recent rise in the number of perished Mutton birds on our beaches. These birds travel over 15 000 kilometres from the Northern to the Southern hemisphere to breed. Although the majority of the birds complete the journey a small number do die from exhaustion or lack of food. The death of these birds occurs along the East coast of Australia each year during Spring though numbers often increase during bad weather.

The natural cycle of our beaches will ensure that the birds will not remain on the beaches for an extended period of time. Residents are advised to leave the birds on the beach where other scavenging animals will dispose of the carcass or the natural decomposing process will occur. Council will not be undertaking any beach cleanups to remove the birds as this would disrupt the natural cycle.

There are a large number of banded birds within the Shearwater population. If anyone sees a dead Shearwater with a band or any other dead banded seabird, they should report it to the local National Parks and Wildlife Service on 6566 6621 or the Australian Bird and Bat Banding scheme found at http://www.environment.gov.au/biodiversity/.