Bird hobbiest w/ a wierd question ●~●

[the chickentaco]

Ok so for all of you who put up bird houses, this is gonna sound wierd but how do I attract starlings? I live in a huge migratory area for birds and have started 2 swallow/Martin colonies at my last 2 houses, but now I've moved to a new house out of town whith tree swallows and Martin colonies already present.we already have last year's barn swallows and cliff swallows building in our sheds rafters, chickadees and wrens in our smaller boxes, but I have never had starlings nest in any of our houses.One appears to be interested in a nest box, but due to the swallows territorial nature, what are the chances of convincing a pair to settle in? I had a male who tried to nest at my old house, but my main martins chased him off...

 

[MaumeeMommee]

Hmmm, wish I could help you out. I've never tried to attract starlings, but 2 years ago we had a pair nest in a hole (that we couldn't even see from the ground) in the soffit of our home. The hole has since been repaired, and now the nest in the maple tree nearby. They like to nest in tight spaces of existing structure, as well as nest boxes for woodpeckers and swallows. Currently trying to encourage a pair of tree swallows to come back to the terracotta birdhouse they used here last year. It's hard sometimes when they're so close and there's not much we can do to "make them" do what we want! Best of luck, let us know how it turns out!

 

[the chickentaco]

Haha thanks! We've got like 4 bird houses on our property that could easily set a nest of starlings,but could also suit the tree swallows we have all over-_- and the swallows are honestly quite a bit more vigorous in claiming nest sites, seeing as most are already in breeding pairs, or at least courting.Not to mention male to female starlings is like 3/1. All my swallows love thier nests no less than 10 feet up and painted in bright colors!(white, blue, and bright red)but once they raised one set they'd come right back each year to the same nest, with more birds each year! I went from one set to five in two years after they realized it was a mutually beneficial relationship!(3 different species not counting cliff and barn) ps.Put out some chicken or duck feathers (natural color) and your almost garenteed a breeding pair on your property ;D

 

[MaumeeMommee]

I'd love to trade you some starlings for more tree swallows! Tree swallows aren't terribly common in my area, but starlings are everywhere! Thanks for the tip about the feathers! Did I mess up by cleaning out the bird house? There were a lot of droppings and feathers, so I figured I'd hose it out... hopefully I didn't make a mistake!

 

[the chickentaco]

Nope. personally I clean mine out at the end of each summer, leaving it in can lead to mites and most likely they'll just build over it any way.they tend to recognize the bird house based on site seeing as how mine didn't freak once I repainted the previous years nest box a different color.so as long as the birdhouse is in the same area they should at least check it out! (Except my pair of vg swallows...theyre convinced the rafters of our shop are better than a bird house...) But even they go crazy for feathers!