Tweeters:
This is how I deal with starlings without snapping necks:
I put out a few starling-friendly nestboxes in easily
accessible locations. When a clutch is laid, I steam or
boil the eggs and return the eggs to the nest. In about
two weeks, when the birds remove the duds and lay again, I repeat the
process. I've also done this with
English sparrows, but they are much more likely to
abandon the first box and start up in another, even
before the eggs are due to hatch. I figure this is because
they are more likely to stick around and see me doing the deed.
One pair of starlings has been using a log cabin style bird
feeder on a deck rail for a couple of years. It is so
desirable that they fought for a week with another pair
last season. I would find them tumbling around on the
ground under the box several times a day.
Please let me know how to ruin the eggs with a needle.
Sandy Daniels
Auburn, Wash.
mailto: dani217 at attglobal.net