starlings

[scooter147]

Joy,
If you can catch a flight to St Louis Missouri I will come pick you up at the airport and bring you to my house for a week and I guarantee that you will have at least 100+ starlings to take back with you, you can have all you want.

All you will need to do is sit in my dining room and watch the coop and when you see a dozen or so starlings go in the coop go out, open the people door, rush in close the pop door and you will have at least 8 or 9 to catch and box up.

 

[JennsPeeps]

To our English friends across the pond:

Starlings were imported from England as a means to introduce N. Americans to the birds of Shakespeare. The problem is, they are VERY prolific here with few natural predators. They eat anything & everything, carry disease, and compete with native species for limited food resources.

http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/eurostarling.shtml
http://bcb722.blogspot.com/2007/01/great-threat-posed-by-european.html

I live in the city and during our recent snow storm opened my back door to see 500 or more of them sitting on the wires. The racket they make is deafening!

 

[scooter147]

The racket is one thing, BUT THE POO THEY LEAVE BEHIND IS A WHOLE OTHER ISSUE!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[scooter147]

No offense to our friends across the pond but I forgot to mention I think they are as ugly as homemade soap.

 

[Wifezilla]

Maybe we need to stat a starling relocation program. We all box them and and send them back across the pond....

 

[Joy1]

A trip to Missouri sounds great! They are though with the common house sparrow in serious decline over here,.... they obviously like it better with you.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Here in the states, they are pest. Not native to the USA, all started from 13 a lady released in central park.

They number in the billons if not in the trillons.

Know they are native to England.

 

[deerman]

Quote:
Well the English Sparrow is also a pest here . Same thing, someone had a bright idea to release them here.

If you ever run out, USA has a surplus of both.

Nothing wrong with them in their native land.

 

[Bassleg]

They are the only thing I shoot with my pellet gun I let the air out of them every chance I get!!

 

[kartking22]

Starlings can be taught to talk. They mimic sounds that they hear which is why there is no real starling calls.
A few years ago, just after my ex-GF had just left for work, I was feeding my chickens when I heard her calling my name. I went out into the yard to find out what she forgot this time. There wasn't anyone in the yard. I went back to feeding the chickens when I heard it again. Went out....No one there. I stood there for a while questioning my sanity when I heard it the third time. I looked up to see a starling sitting on a branch in the tree above me when his beak opened and called my name again.
It didn't take me long to blast him into a cloud of feathers. Having a nagging GF is bad enough. I sure didn't need any help from a starling in the nagging department.