The sad reason why residents want this beautiful native plant removed from the median strip of a busy road on the Sydney's northern beaches

  • WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT 
  • A woman has called for a bottlebrush to be removed after she found dead birds 
  • She said the birds were feeding on the bush and being hit by passing cars
  • Several social media users echoed her call for the bottlebrush to be removed 

By Claudia Poposki For Daily Mail Australia

Published: | Updated:

A beautiful bottlebrush planted in the middle of a busy Sydney road has led to the deaths of dozens of rainbow lorikeets and myna birds. 

The native plant on a median strip in Frenchs Forest, in Sydney's northern beaches, is a valuable source of nectar and provides a safe place to rest for birds in the area.

But a concerned resident who clipped a bird that flew out of the dense shrub last week made a grim discovery when searching for the injured animal's body.

'Dead lorikeets and noisy mynas hit by cars were lying in this strip of grass and bush between the lanes,' she said, sharing photographs of dead birds laying by the road.

'There was so many of them it was shocking to me. Couldn't find 'my' bird unfortunately but I walked for a few meters and checked if any were still alive.' 

A bottlebrush planted in the middle of a Sydney road has led to the deaths of dozens of birds

A bottlebrush planted in the middle of a Sydney road has led to the deaths of dozens of birds  

The shrub provides nectar and a place to rest for lorikeets and mynas, but the birds are often hit by cars trying to fly away

The shrub provides nectar and a place to rest for lorikeets and mynas, but the birds are often hit by cars trying to fly away

The woman said it appeared as though many of the birds appeared to have been snacking on the bottlebrush when they were hit. 

'No wonder that when they finish eating and they try to fly away, they end up hit by speeding cars,' she said. 

Residents were concerned about the dead wildlife scattered along the median strip.  

'I drove in both directions today and I counted at least five deceased birds in the same area,' one person said.

'It was very sad to see so wasn't surprised when I found this post about your concerns.'

Another person said: 'They should move the bottle brush elsewhere, that's so tragic.'

'I noticed this yesterday. The birds fly out of the trees straight into the traffic,' a third person said.

One woman who clipped a bird while driving past the bottlebrush found dozens of dead lorikeets by the road

One woman who clipped a bird while driving past the bottlebrush found dozens of dead lorikeets by the road 

Others called for the shrub to be removed or placed in a less high-traffic area. 

Sydney Wildlife Rescue volunteer Georgie Campbell told Yahoo News Australia she also wanted the bush removed after collecting several dead birds from the area.

Ms Campbell revealed birds hit by cars often need to fly low in order to avoid predators in the sky. 

University of New South Wales' Dr Szymon Drobniak said the case seems like a 'classic example of bad urban space planning'.  

'High-speed roads are in general much more dangerous to birds, and it is not uncommon to find dead birds on such roads, but here it is extreme and managing this by removing the bottlebrush and replacing it with something more neutral to birds is a good idea,' Dr Drobniak said. 

Residents were concerned about the dead wildlife scattered along the median strip.

Residents were concerned about the dead wildlife scattered along the median strip. 

Vegetation is planted and used to promote native wildlife in the area.

The vegetation is regularly maintained by crews in order to not impact roads.

Anyone who has seen an animal dead on the road is urged to contacts WIRES if it is a wild animal or the RSPCA if it is a domestic pet.  

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