Hello tweeters,


Here is an issue that I think would help new birders learn how important it
is to control the h. sparrow and starling if they want hole nesting birds to
thrive. No hot topics on this PLEASE! Just a little insight. You will see in
one paragraph that he mentions that kestrels MIGHT even get evicted by
starlins, I kind of doubt that. Anyway, if you don't like great detail of
poor little songbirds being attacked by the european assisins, then please
don't read. It is very sad, and can get people like me PO'ed also.

Blake Iverson
Arlinton, WA
coopershwk at hotmail.com




The StarlingPortrait Of A Killer

I thought I would repost an article that describes my impression of the
supreme competitor of all competitors--the European starling. Starlings are
actively looking for nests now and some even have already laid eggs in
Florida. I have sad news to report about a pair of very brave red-headed
woodpeckers that successfully defended their nest for two years against the
hordes of starlings that plunder Tallahassee. This year starlings are in
full control of the red-heads old nest site in a dead palm tree. This tree
is in the parking lot of the office building where I work. These red-heads
were the star performers in "Battle Of The Titans" that I mention below.

So here it is, The Starling...Portrait Of A Killer...

He gives no quarter and rules with an iron beak and claw. Like a feathered
Viking, he roams the countryside pillaging the nests of native hole nesting
birds and stealing their territory. It is Hammer of the Gods! But this time,
the warriors are cloaked in sinister black feathers rather than animal
skins. Fierce, fearless, unyielding, nothing seems to stand in his way and
he has conquered almost all of America and parts of Canada in a little over
100 years. Imagine that! From Maine to California and from Florida to
Canada, he has prevailed; no area is untouched by his aggression. From
humble beginnings of a few hundred birds released in New York, his numbers
are now in the untold millions, and there is no end to his continued
expansion and domination. This has become an avian plague of biblical
proportions. This avian plague is the European starlinga killer and supreme
competitor of all competitors.

Aggressive, persistent, intelligent, adaptive, and endowed with powerful
physical weapons, the starling is built physically and behaviorally for
close quarter combat. His armor is formidable and he knows how to use it to
the fullest. Armed with a nearly two-inch long dagger for a beak, long
powerful legs, raptor-like claws, muscular body, and behavioral machismo,
the starling fears nothing when competing for nest sites. He will fight
almost to the death and rarely gives up. The long legs of the starling allow
him to stand over his victim, frequently pinning the other bird to the
ground or bottom of a nest cavity. Gripping his victim with sharp claws, the
starling then uses his dagger-like beak to stab and drill downwards. In a
rabid frenzy, the starling continues to stab and drill over and over again
while twisting his head from side to side and pushing his beak forward
against his victim's body. Such prolonged, intense mechanical action causes
the starling's beak to remove feathers, pierce flesh, and may eventually
inflict mortal wounds. Starlings can easily peck out eyes, puncture internal
organs, and even drill through a bird's skull. The starling literally
becomes possessed in a killing frenzy and will cling tenaciously to his
opponent and try to inflict as much damage as possible.

The starling has proven to be the master of nearly every hole nesting bird
he confronts in battle. Flickers, woodpeckers, purple martins, bluebirds,
great crested flycatchers, tree swallows, and even kestrels and wood ducks
are driven from their nests, though surely the screech owl has proven his
master. On occasion, a determined woodpecker will prevail and I have
observed a few cases of this, including an extraordinary battle between a
pair of red-headed woodpeckers and a male starling and the woodpeckers won.
I called this encounter, "Battle of the Titans". But those are the rare
exceptions. Great crested flycatchers are superior in open combat and will
worst starlings in such encounters, but they are no match in close quarter
battles and never dare to face the starling inside the nest cavity. Less
powerful birds like purple martins, bluebirds and tree swallows may be
killed by starlings in close combat.

The starling's strength lies, in part, within his genes. Ancient signals
coded in his DNA continue to guide his behavior and physiology today just as
these signals did thousands and thousands of years ago. Before the starling
arrived in America, he successfully competed, and still does, with other
hole nesting birds in his homeland of Europe and Asia. He proved, and
continues to prove, to be the master of powerful woodpeckers and other
cavity nesters. He is genetically programmed to compete and use his superior
physical and behavioral attributes to evict other birds, even those that may
be stronger and more powerful. He instinctively knows exactly what to do and
his drive to procreate is beyond comprehension. The starling simply applied
his "genetic knowledge" and powerful physical and behavioral attributes to
this new world of America. And the starling has been supremely successful.
What worked with European woodpeckers has worked with American woodpeckers
and many other hole nesting birds. The European starling has conquered
Americajust like the European human conquistadors did to the New World
hundreds of years ago.

For nearly 35 years I have observed starlings out compete many native hole
nesting birds. I have seen starlings either kill, injure or evict the
following birds and this also includes destroying their eggs and young:
purple martins, great crested flycatchers, flickers, red-bellied
woodpeckers, red-headed woodpeckers, bluebirds, and tufted titmice. All
these native birds, including even the small titmouse, tried to defend their
nests against starlings. And some have been successful in a few situations.
But the vast majority has been unable to out compete any starlings that
actively tried to take over.

I have tried to convince you that starlings are highly destructive to our
native hole nesting birds. Did I succeed? No, you need some more convincing?
Still not convinced that starlings should be eliminated at every
opportunity? Still believe starlings belong here and are interesting birds?
Read the following and then tell me what you think. If you don't like
graphic, but honest talk, then stop right here and read no further. I will
not "sugar coat" starling aggression. If we fail to paint a "realistic
picture" of the damage that a starling can inflict, then we will never
convince those folks who still believe that starlings can peacefully coexist
with our native hole nesting birds.

This is what a starling did to a pair of purple martins in one of my
colonies

There was something dreadfully wrong. I could hear a martin's "death
rattle", a persistent scream that told me the martin was in serious trouble.
I rushed over to one of my Trio Grandpa houses. Something was wrong in one
of the bottom side compartments. This compartment contained an adult martin
pair that had eggs. The martin's screaming ended and I noticed a martin's
wing protruding from the entrance hole. I immediately began lowering the
house. Suddenly a starling flew from the martin's nest and I now knew what
had happened. As the house reached eye level, I dreaded opening the nest
compartment. And when I did I gasped in horror, disgust and anger. The male
martin was in front of the nest compartment. His body was mauled with large
chunks of his feathers missing from his back. One of his eyes was pecked out
and the other eye was a bloody pulp of tissue. The lower mandible of his
bill was broken at the jawbone. His body was still warm. After removing him,
I then discovered the final horror. His mate was even more mutilated. The
starling had apparently held her down with his powerful legs and claws while
her breast pressed firmly against her eggs. Using his dagger-like beak, he
pecked out both of her eyes and finished the job by scalping her, leaving a
bloody, puncture wound in her head. Nearly all the feathers had been plucked
from the back of her neck and parts of her back. Her breast was covered in
crushed egg yolk. It appears the starling surprised the female on the nest
and killed her. When her mate returned to relieve her so she could feed, he,
like a good guardian, obviously attacked the starling inside the nest.
Martins are NO match for starlings in close quarter combat.

Are you convinced now? I hope so, and I hope that all responsible martin
landlords will vigilantly eliminate starlings from their colonies and yards.
Starlings may have conquered America, but we can still put up a good fight
against them on an individual level and protect our martin colonies and
other hole nesting birds in our yards. Yes, don't forget about the
beleaguered woodpeckers; they need our help, too. We must use starling
resistant entrance holes (SREHs) in our martin houses/gourds as necessary
and institute a vigorous trapping (and where possible, shooting) program to
eliminate these destructive pests. Remember: there are no rewards for
starling aggression and expansion.

Steve Kroenke Tallahassee, Florida


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