Yes, I am going to be adding some plastic shortly, but they can get under the eaves as of now.
I dont know about handfeeding one, but ill let you, qwerty, and the rest of BYC know when I have same tame little captive bred starlings to sell! Or, I will send you a wild one now!I've always wanted a starling
Handfeed a baby and send me one, haha.
They are excellent talkers, too.
I thought you were going to say you were getting a new breed of pigeons haha. As far as the starlings... we have flocks of 200+ of those things show up all the time in recent years. They used to only show up in the autumn before winter, chowing down on everything they could find. Now they hang around year round. The other birds (song birds etc) seem to be going down in numbers year by year, and those damn starlings are exploding in numbersI got a new species of bird today!
Starlings! No, not starling pigeons. The good ol' European Starling.
I built an aviary on the back of my breeder loft, for the pigeons. Well, they simply don't use it. And, I have been wanting starlings for a while. So,,, I decided to trap some. Hehe.
I guess I just like the invasive species from Europe? First pigeons, then starlings, whats next? Eurasian collared doves? They already seem to be taking to my 5×3×4 aviary. One has started eating out of my hand, just a couple hours after I caught it! I have actually caught a few by hand, while they were eating at the bird feeder.
*for those who don't know,,, starlings are an invasive species introduced from Europe, just like pigeons. it is encouraged to kill them, as they kill many native birds. There are no regulations regarding what you do with them. What I'm doing is legal, and encouraged.*
i have 9 total. I could catch probably 25 more if i wanted. I dont plan to keep all 9. I will let some loose as I see pairs form.
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They are a terrible nuisance. I had 4 pairs of blue birds nesting last year. Starting cleaned out two of the nest of them, a total of ten babies killed by the starlings.we have flocks of 200+ of those things show up all the time in recent years. They used to only show up in the autumn before winter, chowing down on everything they could find. Now they hang around year round. The other birds (song birds etc) seem to be going down in numbers year by year, and those damn starlings are exploding in numbers
what breed? You can't just say "I am bringing in a new breed" and then not tell us!On a side note, I am contemplating bringing in a new breed. However, in my case it's actually pigeons haha
Haha... no, not kings or modenas. I do love the wattle breeds though. Used to raise English carriers, dragoons, English barbs, and had German beauty homers for many many years. But now I'm looking at something very different. Danish tumblers (the clean legged show type... don't like muffed birds). Very attractive birds in my opinion. Just depends if I can find what I'm looking for.
I have admired the English Carrier pigeon. Recently I saw a video that appears to show a lot of grooming/maintenance is required to keep the overgrown wattles in good condition??
Yeah, they can get unsightly and very smelly if you don't keep after them... especially during breeding season. Sometimes in the older birds it's also necessary to do some trimming of the eye ceres and or wattles because it can hinder their eye sight and or eating ability. I'll just say they aren't really beginner birds haha. Plus they are also a lot more skittish by nature... can be a lot harder to tame them.
Are they a flying breed? Will you also show them?
As far as I know, the birds they originated from were flying/performance birds, but they have evolved into a show type bird now. That's fine though as I still have my homers. Showing... probably not as i'm just in it for my own enjoyment now. I'm pretty sure the local fancy clubs have folded as of a few years ago, and I don't really feel like traveling for shows anymore. The Portuguese tumblers are nice, but not really my type. I have had other small breeds over the years (tipplers, Berliners, New York flying flights, Russian silver high fliers, etc.), but as I said they just aren't my type. I'm not sure why to be honest... maybe it's just the way that they coo. It just doesn't scream pigeon to me
. When I had my dragoons the loft was roaring when they cooed haha
