Starlings

[Madelinew]

I do rather like starlings but have been getting a bit fed up recently with the way they empty the bird table before anything else gets a look in and it doesn't matter what or how much I put there. I have got round it now by establishing bird tables elsewhere in the garden and making sure the feeders are all well stocked - the smart little things can often be seen hanging from these as well however! The only birds I've seen get the upper hand are the jackdaws and once a brave blackbird that eventually lost it's nerve.


However, I got my reward today when two adult starlings brought their single fledgling to feed - it's all worth it.

[suetblocks]

THIS IS GREAT!!! weve also just seen a baby with its mum to we also have problems with their greedy appetite.But they are great birds.

[guineapig]

Last year I was overrun with them, and their babies. The mess! The noise! They partcularly love the fat blocks and can empty the container in a single day. This year there haven't been so many babies but they seem incredibly advanced for the time of year. Perhaps they'll have second broods

[jezlee]

I hadn't seen any youngsters in my garden this year until yesterday, when a whole flock arrived! There were 2 or 3 adults and about 7 youngsters, but they pretty much stayed on the grass, the youngsters picking at anything they saw, and occasionally being fed by the adults. I put apples, cut in half, out on the lawn for the blackbirds (they LOVE them) but I've noticed the starlings are now eating them as well!

[Tornado]

Starlings in my garden are going through 2 kilos of sultanas daily!!
It's costing us a fortune!!

[thunder]

I never (or extremely rarely) see Starlings in my garden - I wish I did!

henrya

[SteveHL]

You can get a wire grid with holes smal enough for birds like robins and dunnocks to get through but too small for the likes of the starlings and ring neck doves. This helps ensure the smaller birds get some feed too. Otherwise the crazy gang as the starlings are known in our house not only get the worm but everything else.
Regards
SteveHL

[buzfuz8149]

My marauders (starlings) and their young are taking 1lb suet, 4 fat balls, 1lb peanut bits plus what they can reach through the mesh that protects the meal worms for the small birds. They would eat more but I split it over the day, there is certainly no shortage of them round here.

[WestLothian]

They are very greedy in our garden too - and they chase the other birds from the food.
The robin and the dunnocks wait until the starling feeding frenzy is over before getting near.

They are also very hard to photograph I find with their dark and oily feathers.

[Madelinew]

Update on the baby starling - we had a bird strike on the patio doors last night and it was baby. Fortunately he/it was just stunned temporarily and I managed to persuade my deeply concerned daughter that he was fine and to leave him alone. I shooed him gently under a large planter on my patio so that he could recover safely without and predators getting him and he flew off half an hour later. His parents stayed in the vicinity until he was OK.

I agree about the amount they eat - they cost me a fortune! And they make such a mess. I put out loads of seed, oats and raisins in lard blocks because the blackbirds tend to throw everything everywhere in search of particular morsels. However, this attracted the starlings who get through a large margarine tub sized lump every day. They are very clever birds too because despite trying some of the methods mentioned above, they manage to get round them somehow.

As I type, a flock has landed in the tree opposite and they are as noisy as ever. Their social antics are highly entertaining and I find the rest of the garden gets a share of the food put out because I just make sure I have plenty of feeding stations of varying types.

[Duke of York]

We have just had our influx of baby starlings trying to eat us out of house and home and museli, fatballs etc

It is not hard to tell when they arrive as the baby ones make a complete racket demanding food off their mum and dad. Although some seem that desperate to be fed that they are willing to ask any starling that comes near

We had three on a museli dish near the back of our house all asking to be fed this afternoon. Eventually when no food was forthcoming two actually started to feed themselves, but the last one was having no of this 'feed yourself' lark and just carried on calling whilst actually standing in the dish

Anyway I did manage to capture another youngster being fed







I was quite pleased with the shots if only that blade of grass wasn't directly in the way
Maybe I can photoshop it out

[Vixen]

I was going to post about the Starlings in our garden.
they eat so much.

I don't mind I love watching them as they are funny and friendly I can stand or sit close to the back garden feeders without them caring as long as I stay still. They been coming with there young since the 15th, the juv's are so funny, food right in front of them and still screaming to be fed. The most I have counted is 8, though there could be more.

the only thing that worry's me is they scare off the other birds, the Sparrows are fine as they use the hanging feeders on the tree out the front well out of the way of the starlings, and the Colored Doves are happy to come and eat out the front to. But I only see Blue Tits or Great Tits come down for a look and have'nt stayed long.

I can't see my back garden feeders from the house (seperate garden) so could they be coming down with out me seeing, the hanging feeders out the back have'nt been touched.

[fje202]

Originally Posted by Tornado

Starlings in my garden are going through 2 kilos of sultanas daily!!
It's costing us a fortune!!

I can sympathise, we are going through three blocks of fat aday, a large bag of fruit, as well as three bags of yorkshire puddings which all the blackbirds and unfortunately the starllings love i don't even want to know how much it is costing us!

[Roxy]

Last summer we had around 30 starlings with babies on our lawn at once. The lawn was basically full of them and their babies skwarking and demanding to be fed (at the time it looked like a noisy brown carpet). All this and I had only thrown a bit of bread out on the lawn!

[cherrybee]

I also have a noisy brood of starlings.But this morning I was quite upset my daughters cat brought me a present of one of the young starlings dead of course.I didn't half shout at her.She has a bell on but obviously she was too quick for the poor thing.I will be glad when my daughter gets her own place so the cat can go.She is a sweet little thing only a few months old and I will miss her when she goes but I could have strangled her this morning. I also have Blue Tits in a nesting box and hubby and I are worried about the young when they fledge.I WILL strangle her if she harm a feather on their heads

[fulhamphil]

From 5.30am to 8pm it's starling mania it's non stop at one stage i had about a dozen fledgelings flapping in the pond however i'm not complaining as they are so entertaining and innocent, yes they are costing me about £25 a week but i don't care , there worth it. Will post some pics in the week.

[fje202]

Don't they have alot of babies there were nine out there this morning, and at one point one adult was trying to feed three babies, they look very fluffy and round. I am worried about the blackbirds they keep missing out on the food its gone before they get a look in, i have not had as many blackbird babies as last year, the only thing that seems to put the starlings off is when the jay comes down for a feed. Anyway its well worth it i believe they are on the endangered list though there does seem to be alot of them at the moment which is good!

[UNKAL]

Ah yes the annual starling fat block fest is upon us all I see. I love it and it does normally cost us ££s in fat blocks so this year we mainly putting out soggy bread by the loaf which they seem to enjoy.

I'm not the only one who loves it though, our local friendly fox was also taking an interest and was sat under the tree where I hang the feeders and fat blocks, it didn't stop the kamikaze starlings though who carried on feeding dangling from the fat block just a couple of feet above our foxy friend!! I didn't have my camera with me unfortunately...

[Anyanka]

How many young does each starling pair produce? I've see three or four big youngsters harrass one adult on my lawn, and wondered if they just pounce on any adult that comes their way!

We've had an absolute invasion of starling babies since the weekend, this morning I could not get back to sleep after 6am because of the noise, but all the inconvenience is weighed up by the entertainment factor. The youngsters are hilarious, waddling at top speed, falling flat on their beaks - sitting on a pile of food on the bird table but calling for mum to feed them...

And, the reward for my tolerance: I see lots of slug killing going on. As I love my garden and my flowers, that is a very welcome side effect!

[witham]

We have also got loads of the pesky birds, they seem to appear from nowhere as soon as the food is put out and make sooooo much noise especially their young, I had to laugh at two who were sat in a small dish on one of the feeding stations waiting to be fed and as the parent bird tried to land on the same dish they all fell off, the Blackbirds families try their best but are easily pushed aside but persist and always seem to end up with their fill as well