Starling ?

[Buckdog122]

Does anyone indiscriminately shoot them in their yards whether they are bothering things or not. Seems like they are always around but not bothering anything yet. Would you shoot if given the chance or only nuisance birds?
Thanks
Buckdog

[deancamp]

I do, if there not causing a problem now they might in the future. I also figure they are stealing a nesting cavity from another native bird somewhere else so I take the opportunity to eliminate them when it arises.

[wmfamily]

If I was in a place where I could I would definitely. A lot of people keep out traps all year too. Starlings harm more than just Martins, mostly woodpeckers. Any bird that is a cavity nester is vulnerable. House sparrows fit that class too.

[Zheeeem]

I'm afraid I don't have enough ammo to shoot all the starlings I see.

[flyin-lowe]

I am sure I could make an impact on the local starling population but there are so many in my area I just rely on SREH. Sometimes there will be flocks of hundreds, maybe thousands of them in the fields and on the lines around my house. I have BB, TS, and martin housing on my property and the starlings don't get into any of them so unfortunately I don't fight them. I thought about getting a V Trap but I am not sure what I would do if I started trapping them. I have heard stories of people catching hundreds of them in V Traps which would become a disposal issue.

[Birds]

I had a starling fit through a SREH last month so I got my trap out and got rid of him. So yes it is a good idea to kill starlings before they evolve smaller.

[Curtis Reil]

Every opportunity presented, I try and capitalize. Some of my friends who are interested in helping out native birds are on the program too. They don’t have time to host Martins but will shoot every trash bird they can, knowing that they are causing grief somewhere else.

[Spiderman]

V traps will capture large numbers of Starlings in a short period of time. Thry are used often near where crops are grown.

I trap Starlings all year but mostly in late winter early spring before the Martins ever arrive.

[Dave Duit]

Please contact your local raptor rehabilitation center to donate the dead starlings. Hawks and owl will be happy to eat the starlings and the rehab center would be thankful for your donation. Before bring the starlings in, just check with them to see how they wish to take in the dead starlings.

[Conrad Baker]

YES- I kill as many as I can, same as HOSP- They die too !!

[FarmerHarv]

Dave, I had an interesting conversation with a wildlife rehabilitator near here the other day about the english house sparrow and starling. Their position is that HOSP and starlings are not really invasive any more, and they will actually rehabilitate any that are brought in after hitting a window/mauled by a cat etc. They were a little distressed that I was was trapping and killing HOSP, but were sorta ok with taking them as they were better food for the raptors than using chicks, as their bones were fully matured.

So buying and feeding chicken chicks is ok, but trapping and feeding HOSP is mostly not ok. Hmmm.

They also would take (and even pay for) any and all mice I could snap trap, as the natural brown color is better for training raptors than the white mice they buy. So buying or trapping mice is ok, trapping HOSP is mostly not ok. More hmmm.

When I asked about the damage HOSP and starling could and would do to martin, tree swallow and bluebird populations I never really received a reply, but was told the english house sparrow numbers are rapidly declining in Europe and the conversation moved on to different topics.

I found their perspective to be super focused on saving every wild bird that humans have caused to be injured, but yet they didn't seem at all interested in helping our native cavity nesters by actively dealing with these human introduced species. It was quite an eye opening discussion, and now I have a little better idea as to why it is so difficult to have many people understand why HOSP and starling numbers should be controlled.

[Fuzzmeister]

Farmerharv
Just my 2cents worth! The starling and the Hosp are both invasive species, there is no laws in effect that protect these birds and they raise hell with all the native birds. But in this world we live in today there are different people that believe a bird is a bird and all birds have a right to be on earth, the house sparrow and the starling were introduced into the world by some one that didn’t know any thing about them. I will take the opportunity to remove as many of them as I possibly can. I just get all worked up when I see the HOSP move in with the martins and raise hell.

[wmfamily]

Dave, I had an interesting conversation with a wildlife rehabilitator near here the other day about the english house sparrow and starling. Their position is that HOSP and starlings are not really invasive any more, and they will actually rehabilitate any that are brought in after hitting a window/mauled by a cat etc. They were a little distressed that I was was trapping and killing HOSP, but were sorta ok with taking them as they were better food for the raptors than using chicks, as their bones were fully matured.

That is their opinion and not based on too much science. I guess we shouldn't worry too much about the pythons in Florida either. Any foreign species that displaces or disrupts an indigenous species is invasive.

[FarmerHarv]

I was more astounded by their position that chicken chicks were just food and not actual birds themselves. Apparently allowing themselves to be domesticated was their sin, so off to the raptor buffet they go.

I personally rarely even think about the invasive species angle, I simply consider removing HOSP/starling to be the birding equivalent of weeding the flowerbed; the ones I like stay, the others...well, they go. I might use traps, rifles, specific bird feeds, feeders, plants, barriers and other attractants/deterrents, but eventually the only birds left in the yard are the ones I prefer to see. Pretty much every living thing on the planet today (especially humans) was or is an invasive species at some point over the last 2 million years, so I just weed my little avian garden plot without getting too deep into the whys of it.