ABC News (AU)
· collected 2026-10-07 · by Amelia Walters and Oliver Brown
In Pinnaroo, a small town in South Australia's Murray Mallee region, residents are grappling with an extensive pigeon population that is causing significant issues. Local business owners report spending hundreds of dollars weekly cleaning farming machinery contaminated by pigeon droppings, while the local primary school has had to rely on carted-in drinking water due to potential contamination risks from the birds. The Southern Mallee Council plans to continue its eradication efforts in the coming weeks to address the growing problem.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-07,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
In short:
Residents are spending hundreds of dollars a week on cleaning farming machinery due to pigeon droppings.
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Residents → spend → droppings
Parents at the local primary school say drinking water has had to be carted in due to contamination risk in recent years.
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water → say → years
The Southern Mallee Council says it will continue eradication efforts in the coming weeks.
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it → say → weeks
Walking down the main street of Pinnaroo in South Australia's Murray Mallee, you may have to watch where you step.
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you → walk → Mallee
With distant coos of pigeons perched on the ledges of the town's historic buildings, you can see the streets have a few unwelcome guests.
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streets → perch → guests
From birds creating drinking water issues at the local primary school to local businesses spending hundreds of dollars a week cleaning their machinery, many say more needs to be done to address the problem.
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more → create → problem
Hundreds spent on cleaning
For third-generation business owner Roydn Bailey, the pigeon problem is not new, but now it is getting "out of control".
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it → spend → control
He estimated his business spent hundreds of dollars a week washing pigeon excrement off his company's machinery.
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business → estimate → machinery
"We try and park our machines between the rafters to limit the amount of droppings onto our machines because it damages the paint,"he said.
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it → try → paint,"he
"[The droppings] block our gutters up, which then creates a big problem when we get downpours with water coming in through the roof."
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we → block → roof
Mr Bailey believed having two grain silos at either end of the township made it the ideal food source for the birds.
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it → believe → birds
A few metres down the road, Todd Dooley runs the local post office and said you can "hear and see them all the time".
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you → run → them
Mr Dooley's child also attends the local primary school and said the pigeons have gotten so bad in recent years that the education department had to step in.
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department → attend → years
"I know they were shipping in drinking water for the kids for the last couple of years because of the damage done to the tanks, pipes and drinking fountains,"he said.
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they → know → tanks
An education department spokesperson confirmed the school relied on rainwater tanks for drinking water and had supplied drinking water to the school on two occasions.
"[Water was supplied] last year while the tanks were temporarily disconnected from the rainwater system as a precaution to ensure they were not affected by contamination from impacted gutters," the department said.
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department → confirm → gutters
The department has been working with the school to address issues associated with pigeons and ensure its drinking water supply remains safe and available."
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supply → work → pigeons
The department said there was no ongoing weekly pressure washing of the school grounds and the school was "not currently" having drinking water trucked in.
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water → say → grounds
Pest explained
Feral pigeons are descendants of domestic homing pigeons that were introduced to Australia from Europe, making them creatures of habit.
Adelaide Pigeon Control owner John Rohal said the species bred extremely fast.
"
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species → explain → habit
It may start with just two pigeons on the roof that you don't seem to mind, but they can breed up to nine times a year, and before you know it, you've got 12 up there," he said.
"
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he → start → 12
The amount of damage 12 birds in six months can ruin a house."
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amount → ruin → house
Mr Rohal said eradication was the most effective way to address pest populations.
"
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eradication → say → populations
I would say your two most effective methods would be shooting and trapping as deterrents don't really work," he said.
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he → say → ?
"I've gone to places where I've only eradicated five out of 20, and the other 15 have bailed and never returned.
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15 → go → 20
"
Eradication efforts
Southern Mallee Council chief executive Jason Beaton has been organising eradication efforts via a contractor for the past 18 months.
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Beaton → organise → months
With harvest around the corner, he said the council was prioritising culling to get on top of the issue.
"
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council → say → issue
It's very effective to start with … but then they do come back, so it's going to be a real ongoing process for us," Mr Beaton said
"
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Beaton → start → us
It's the public amenity we're worried about; there's real pride in this community, so to have pigeons hanging around and defecating on your public parks and buildings, that is our biggest impact.
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that → be → parks
"
When asked whether the state government has been notified about the ongoing issue, he said it was a council problem they would fix on their own.
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they → ask → own
"This has been a localised issue that, as the Southern Mallee people do, we solve our own problems," he said.
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he → do → problems
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