Mon, 14 Oct 1996 17:31:18 -0800, Janet Hardin wrote about starlings:

> What "controls" their numbers in Great Britain/Europe?
> Or are they just as numerous there as they are here now?

Mon, 14 Oct 1996 17:54:32 -0800, Dennis Paulson replied:

> Starlings are quite abundant in Europe, although I don't know if they
> reach the numbers they do here.

In Denmark the starling is a common bird, however not as abundant as
here in the Seattle area.

In fact, in Denmark the starling is a very popular bird, people even
build nest boxes for the starling. There are no starlings during the
winter and the arrival of the starlings is a sure sign of spring:
"Listen, the starling has come, it's whistling, so beautiful!"

Only during fall migration, starlings are gathering into large flocks.
Especially in some areas in Southern Jutland, close to the German
border, flocks of several hundred thousand birds can be seen. I haven't
seen it myself, but it should be a most spectacular experience.

I joined the ELWAS field trip to Montlake Fill Sep. 21st. We saw some
cormorants and I heard a joyful voice: "Hey, the cormorants are back!"
In Denmark many people just HATE cormorants. There are so many and they
are so dominating!

So, which birds are popular and which birds are not-so-popular obviously
depends on their abundancy.

Mon, 14 Oct 1996 20:16:48 -0700, a story of loathsome cruelty to animals
was sent to tweeters.
IMHO.

Regards,

Stig Linander - sl at criinc.com
Bird-watcher from Denmark, right now in Bellevue, WA.