OK, so what do you suggest doing about Starlings? We've always shot'em,
although I realize that this raises other questions. I have a colony of
maybe a dozen roosting (not sure they've nested there) in some Arbor vitae,
about ten to twelve feet up.





At 04:00 PM 3/15/01 -0800, you wrote:





>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 Starling
Portrait 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 starling
a 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 America
just 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
>
>
>_________________________________________________________________
>Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com
>
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