Worried sick

[foxypal]

There is a mystery around here,,,last Monday the Starling babies came out their nests and the noise was deafening,,all the babies wanting the parents to feed them,,then families seemed to join together and there were simply masses of them.

Then two days ago they all disapeared,,not a sign of a starling anywhere,,albeit I saw one baby by himself this afternoon trying to feed himself.

My neighbour put stuff down on his moss to kill it and Im wondering if the birds ate it,,albeit its been down for a couple of weeks id say.

I cant understand it at all cos they were going mad for the fat balls and trays and theres been no action at them for the last two days and even the bread I threw out is still uneaten.

Has anyone else noticed anything strange or is it just around my area?

[Picidae]

Hi Foxypal

Don't be too concerned. Once fledged your local Starlings will pour like rain down into your garden for suet feasts handed to them by parents and paid for with great sacrifice by you! This lasts for about a week to 10 days. Towards the end of that time, the youngsters will be feeding themselves (and bathing without armbands!). Then, woosh - they're gone en masse to join other post breeding feeding flocks in the countryside. If you go for a country walk now, you will see large flocks beginning to congregate. It's quite normal. You may still get a few pairs with young in who are slightly behind the bulk of your local fledgers and you will also get a few young stragglers who refused to leave a good food source despite their parents nagging - they will also eventually find their way to post breeding feeding flocks.

It's suddenly really quiet round here too! 'Mine' left on Friday/Saturday. (any extra suet, keep in a cool place or even freeze, it will be much appreciated in the autumn!)

[bigdave60dog]

Yeah they move on to fresh fields and pastures new pretty quickly. Don`t worry they know what they are doing.
Incidentally, I have been thinking a lot about starlings these days. I am nearing retiring age so can remember times quite different from what they are now.
I often reminisce on starlings in cties. For all of my life I have lived in the country but shopped etc in the city. Coventry and Birmingham being my closest cities. Right up untill the late 80s there were vast flocks of countless thousand -millions even- of starlings roosting in these cities of a winter evening. Every tree branch, window cill, ledge etc was populated by starlings at equal pecking distance apart, the noise was incredible.
For younger folk who cannot remember these times, this will sound like a fantasy.
Just before roosting the birds would fly in vast wheeling formations up and down, round and round above and between the building in vast, ever changing formations. Most city folk never gave these a second galnce only complaining about the noise and the droppings.
It is a sight that people travel many miles to see over marshes etc nowadays.
How our attitude to birds has changed. I recently visited Northamton where there is a bye law against feeding pidgeons. How much further can we fall as nation before someone sees sense and realises that we become more impoverished as we detach ourselves more and more from the natural world around us.
Dave

[foxypal]

Originally Posted by Picidae

Hi Foxypal

Don't be too concerned. Once fledged your local Starlings will pour like rain down into your garden for suet feasts handed to them by parents and paid for with great sacrifice by you! This lasts for about a week to 10 days. Towards the end of that time, the youngsters will be feeding themselves (and bathing without armbands!). Then, woosh - they're gone en masse to join other post breeding feeding flocks in the countryside. If you go for a country walk now, you will see large flocks beginning to congregate. It's quite normal. You may still get a few pairs with young in who are slightly behind the bulk of your local fledgers and you will also get a few young stragglers who refused to leave a good food source despite their parents nagging - they will also eventually find their way to post breeding feeding flocks.

It's suddenly really quiet round here too! 'Mine' left on Friday/Saturday. (any extra suet, keep in a cool place or even freeze, it will be much appreciated in the autumn!)

Well Im amazed,,funnily enough I didnt see any at all the whole way through my town today,,and it was so quiet!
I wonder why they dont stay around where they were born?

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by foxypal

I wonder why they dont stay around where they were born?

Perhaps they aspire to a more salubrious locations than yours!
;^)

Jim

[freiston]

Originally Posted by bigdave60dog

Yeah they move on to fresh fields and pastures new pretty quickly. Don`t worry they know what they are doing.
Incidentally, I have been thinking a lot about starlings these days. I am nearing retiring age so can remember times quite different from what they are now.
I often reminisce on starlings in cties. For all of my life I have lived in the country but shopped etc in the city. Coventry and Birmingham being my closest cities. Right up untill the late 80s there were vast flocks of countless thousand -millions even- of starlings roosting in these cities of a winter evening. Every tree branch, window cill, ledge etc was populated by starlings at equal pecking distance apart, the noise was incredible.
For younger folk who cannot remember these times, this will sound like a fantasy.
Just before roosting the birds would fly in vast wheeling formations up and down, round and round above and between the building in vast, ever changing formations. Most city folk never gave these a second galnce only complaining about the noise and the droppings.
It is a sight that people travel many miles to see over marshes etc nowadays.
How our attitude to birds has changed. I recently visited Northamton where there is a bye law against feeding pidgeons. How much further can we fall as nation before someone sees sense and realises that we become more impoverished as we detach ourselves more and more from the natural world around us.
Dave

I moved to Coventry in the mid '80s and have fond memories of standing at my mate's 9th floor window, overlooking the ring-road, watching the huge flocks swirling above the city and then settling around the sports centre, cathedral and polytechnic. The council even used to employ someone (my neighbour!) to scare the birds from their roosts.

[freiston]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

Perhaps they aspire to a more salubrious locations than yours!
;^)

Jim

Oooh! lol

[foxypal]

Originally Posted by freiston

Oooh! lol

I know, the poster is a cheeky sod isnt he!!

[freiston]

Back to the OP - my missus got worried because she hadn't seen many starlings after having loads of them a day or so earlier, adult and recently fledged - then they all came back today for food and baths

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by foxypal

I know, the poster is a cheeky sod isnt he!!

Yeahbut - you can just imagine the young starlings leaving their nests, taking a quick look round and saying 'We're outa here!"
;^)

Jim