Tweeters,

I can speak with a lot of personal experience about Starlings. I
completed a B.Sc. honours thesis on Starling roosts in Vancouver, and
I wrote an M.Sc. thesis about the ecology of urban birds including
Starlings. Even more to the point, for 12 years (1982 to 1994) I
worked for the B.C. Ministry of Agriculture as a Bird Control
Specialist and Wildlife Damage Specialist. For this time period,
finding ways of reducing Starling damage to crops, and carrying out
extension programs on reducing bird damage to crops, was a large part
of my job. I am probably the closest thing there is to a Starling
expert in B.C.

European Starlings are a non-native species in North America, and they
cause many millions of dollars in damage to crops every year, never
mind the major population reductions in some native birds (e.g.
Eastern and Mountain Bluebirds, Purple Martins, flickers, and probably
Lewis's Woodpeckers) caused by nest-site competition. However,
Starlings are one of the 2 or 3 most abundant bird species on the
continent, and any attempt to reduce their populations by lethal
control methods is certain to fail.

Michelle is correct that Starlings (like House Sparrows and Rock
Doves, also introduced) are not legally protected and can legally be
captured and killed-- for good reasons-- in both the U.S. and Canada.

My approach when I worked for the Ministry of Agriculture was to
strongly de-emphasize lethal control methods, and to advocate methods
like protecting blueberries and grapes by the use of bird-proof
plastic netting. Although costly to put up, plastic netting is
effective, and in many situations, pays for the cost of installation
within 3 or 4 years. Methods of protecting vulnerable bird species
from Starlings, such as putting up bluebird nest boxes with entrance
holes that are too small for Starlings but big enough for bluebirds,
are far more effective than killing any number of Starlings.

The nest-box trap described by Michelle has been used for many years,
and will often catch 1 or 2 birds a day. Much larger numbers (up to 50
or 100 birds a day) can be caught in large "cage traps" baited with
fruit, especially if there are a few "decoy" Starlings to start with.
Research has shown that in some situations, intensive trapping with
several "cage traps" can reduce Starling numbers and damage
temporarily, such as at a winter cattle-feeding operation. However, it
has absolutely no effect on the number of Starlings returning the next
year.

In B.C., before my time with the Agriculture ministry, large-scale
trapping of Starlings was advocated in fruit-growing areas of the
Okanagan Valley, and was even carried out by Ministry employees for
awhile. However, it was soon found that the results generally were not
worth the effort, and trapping was abandoned as a damage control
method. It was replaced by plastic netting and scaring methods such as
propane exploders, taped Starling distress calls, and mechanical
noisemakers like the "Av-Alarm".

Trapping and killing Starlings (there are humane methods of doing so)
is still legal in Canada and the U.S. However, the only thing it
usually accomplishes is to allow the trap operator to exercise a
little revenge against the birds for crop losses, or for perceived
losses of other bird species. It usually does little if anything to
solve the problem.

Although attitudes vary greatly (as exemplified by previous Tweeters
messages), most people find killing birds offensive, even if they do
not object to killing mice, rats, and cockroaches in the name of pest
control. This is one of the reasons why I have always advocated
non-lethal methods of reducing bird damage. Two other reasons are that
lethal control methods are almost always ineffective, while there are
other methods of damage control that are effective.

Having studied Starlings for many years, I find them a fascinating and
adaptable bird. In many ways, especially in their adaptability, they
remind me of humans. However-- like humans-- I find that individually,
they are often attractive and interesting, but when they start to
gather in the tens and hundreds of thousands, they become a pain in
the neck!

Wayne C. Weber
Kamloops, BC
contopus at home.com