An acquaintance sent this to me.

>> Date: Mon Sep 9, 2002 2:24 pm
>> Subject: Dairy Farmers Swear By -- Not At -- Their Starlings
>>
>> From Maple Ridge - Pitt Meadows News
>> By KURT LANGMANN
>> METROVALLEY NEWS
>>
>> They're the bane of blueberry farmers, who often employ the
>> contentious "crop cannons" to frighten the marauding flocks of birds
>> away
>>
>> They've also been denigrated by environmentalists because they're not
>> an indigenous species to this continent and they "aggressively
>> displace" native bird species.
>>
>> They are European starlings, also known by their Latin name sturnus
>> vulgaris.
>>
>> Just over a hundred years ago, 100 starlings were released in New
>> York City, and a century later their North and Central American
>> popula-tion is believed to exceed 200 million. Needless to say many
>> people shake their heads in won-der when they see a five-generation
>> Milner dairy farm, Davistead, has more than 250 nesting boxes set up
>> expressly for starlings.
>>
>> Hugh Davis and his son, David, acknowledge that many other old-timers
>> here think it's daft, but the two men have observed that the
>> starlings have eradicated their crop losses due to leatherjackets.
>>
>> As Hugh said, "Nature has a funny way of working things out."
>>
>> "We haven't had to spray pesticides for 10 or 15 years now," said
>> David. "Leatherjacket larvae -- the grubs --- were a real pest, they
>> used to be a real problem. They'd eat our forage (grass) and there
>> would be bald patches, three acres or more, just wiped out by the
>> larvae." The family farms over 200 acres in Milner, and milk 150 of
>> their 300 head of cows thrice daily Hugh says that when he started in
>> the family farm back in 1945 there were over 90 milk shippers in the
>> neighbourhood.
>>
>> "We're the lone survivor today and we pro-duce just over the same
>> amount of milk as those 90 farms did; about 5,000 litres a day," said
>> Hugh. 'Times have changed."
>>
>> About 140 acres is in forage, and another 70 acres is in silage corn.
>> The leatherjackets don't affect the corn crop, however, wireworms in
>> the corn are a problem that the Davises would like to find a natural
>> solution for as well. The star-ling population in the area has done
>> well for 10 years or more, as the birds adapt well to nesting sites
>> in tree cavities and rock crevices near open fields.
>>
>> Davistead was the perfect environment for them and David said, "We'll
>> see 2,000 birds at a time in our field after grubs."
>>
>> However, it wasn't until earlier this year that the farm actively
>> recruited starlings by installing the nest boxes. This came about
>> when an SFU biologist, Oliver Love, was looking for a research site
>> to conduct his doctoral studies into the practicality of employing
>> star-lings as a natural aid to agriculture.
>> "SFU approached the local bird club (Langley Field Naturalists) to
>> help find a suitable location for the research. Keith Robertson (a
>> long-time LFN stalwart) and the club members often come here, and
>> Keith asked me about using this site," said David. 'They used to have
>> it set up at the UBC research farm in Agassiz but there was a
>> conflict there because all farmers tend to see starlings as pests.
>> But we're not really accom-modating the starlings here so much as
>> just watching them.
>>
>> "So in March 2002 they started a three year study here, which has now
>> been prolonged. Oliver and a team of two to three people set up all
>> the boxes, 250 of them in our fields and in the barns, and they come
>> in to study them dur-ing the nesting season, mid-April to the end of
>> June," said David. "Oliver spends an awful lot of time at it - they
>> can be here until 2 a.m., counting the eggs and labelling the birds,
>> and then they're back at the crack of dawn."
>>
>> David added that only 40 to 50 per cent of the boxes are inhabited,
>> and starlings never return to the nests in which they were born.
>>
>> "They want to see the effects that 'good mothers' have on population
>> levels," said Hugh, noting that scientists have observed a wide range
>> of skill levels in raising their young among the nesting mothers.
>> 'There's a four year population curve - although there's been a
>> decline for the past 10 years in England which they donut understand
>> - and they want to see how a hormone implant they're using affects
>> the mothers."
>>
>> The Davises are not exactly what one would call "greenies" or
>> environmental extremists, as they see it more from a practical point
>> of view - they can farm without using chemicals, the starlings aren't
>> interested in eating animal feed, and best of all, it doesn't cost
>> anything. It's the same with the barn owls which nest in their barns
>> - the owls keep vermin populations low on the farm.
>>
>> And, ironically, as we sit around the dinner table talking about the
>> starlings, the Davises haul out a big bucket of blueberries and
>> invite me to dig in. The farm has a row of ancient blueberry bushes
>> which Hugh's mother planted before he was born. I ask if they have
>> nets over the bushes to keep out the birds, and Hugh snorts as he
>> retorts that they've never had to protect the berry crop, and
>> besides, the starlings aren't interested in the berries, as they much
>> prefer the grubs.
>>
>> "I think the crows are worse for that, but we've always had plenty of
>> berries as long as I can remember.
>>
>> Roger Craik
>> Maple Ridge BC
>>
>> PS This has been scanned in and run through a OCR Program as no
>> electronic copy was available. Apologies for any errors that may have
>> been introduced.
-----

Dennis Paulson, Director phone 253-879-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax 253-879-3352
University of Puget Sound e-mail dpaulson at ups.edu
1500 N. Warner, #1088
Tacoma, WA 98416-1088
http://www.ups.edu/biology/museum/museum.html