Tamworth wildlife carer devastated after 20 galahs killed by a single motorist on outskirts of town

Northern Tablelands wildlife carer Jae Price couldn't save a single one of the 20 birds, but cleaned up the bodies from the scene between Moore Creek Road and Davidson Lane.

She said virtually the entire flock had been hit, probably by a single vehicle, after flying into its path before 4pm on Tuesday.

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"They mate for life and they feel loss. There was a couple of birds up there that were trying to nudge their partner up off the ground," she said.

"Unfortunately, by the time I got there it was just too late to save any."

Ms Price said the driver didn't stop to render assistance.

"A member of the public came, she actually stopped on the road, when she saw them all there, and tried to rescue one that was in the middle of the road that was still upright," she said.

"And someone just came along and ran it down - a second person."

Coming just before the galah breeding season at the end of August, many surviving birds have spent the days since flying around calling for lost partners, she said.

The wildlife carer said it was a sad thought "that we as Australians know nothing about our Australian native species, and we have no regard for their welfare".

"It's heartbreaking. [As wildlife carers] we raise these little birds, we raise them to be wild birds and then they get released. I've only just released one into the flock. I can only hope he wasn't one of them," she said.

Ms Price said it was a warning for drivers that humans aren't the only animals that use the road.

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She said motorists should use their peripheral vision to watch out for birds like Galahs, and constantly sound the car horn to warn them off.

"It's cruel and it's illegal," she said.

"It's an offence under the law, if you hit an animal, to not stop and render the animal assistance, and there is a fine involved."

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