Starlings have taken over the bird feeders
Aug 6th, 2007 by Birdy Trish
Pesky starlings have taken over all the bird feeders. I have not seen any of the smaller birds such as the sparrows or great tits. The thrushes have not visited for a few days.
Starlings have emptied both bird tables. They are swinging from the fat ball feeder and eating all the feed inside in double quick time. Starlings have taken over the hanging feeders. These starlings also gather on the ground and try and squeeze into the ground feeder. Some of the younger starlings manage to get inside. No other birds dare come close to get food. In all the years I’ve been feeding birds I have never seen anything like it
The results of the RSPB Big Garden Birdwatch 2007 showed starlings as coming second. House Sparrow came first and the blue tits came third. The Garden Birdwatch showed blackbirds, song thrushes and robins were at the lowest levels for five years. As I watch the flock of starlings sitting on the fence where the robins, blackbirds and sparrows used to sit I’m not surprised. They do not seem to give any other bird a chance to get to any food from any of the bird feeders. Starlings are aggressive, noisy birds. I have to find a way to keep them from taking over.
Tags: Bird Feeders, blackbirds, starlings, thrush, thrushes
Hi Trisha,
Thanks for visiting my gardenwatch blog – I will reply to your comment tomorrow
I see you have had problems of large numbers of Starlings too. I have written a couple of posts with some video footage too that you might be interested in. You are definitely not alone!
You will find my posts at http://blog.shirlsgardenwatch.co.uk/2007/01/bird-wars.html and http://blog.shirlsgardenwatch.co.uk/2007/01/invasion-of-starlings.html
Thanks for that Shirley. Any help and advice would be great. I’ve been feeding birds for years and have never had so many starlings. The leaves on trees near the bird feeders and on the hedges where they are roosting are covered in their white droppings. they are taking over and frightening other birds away. What I can’t understand is - why now, why this year? Why in my garden? I was once told that one day there would only be rats, starlings and nettles left in the countryside. What a horrible thought. Trisha