We’ve all just come through a bitterly cold winter storm that added not only record breaking temperatures but lots of the fluffy white stuff too. With it came frozen water pipes, furnace failures, slick roads and cars that wouldn’t start. We’ve all been there and it is miserable to say the least, but I am here to tell you I had a unique situation that I pray I never experience again.
Anyone that knows me is aware I love my backyard birds and I feed them mixed seeds, suet and black oiled sunflowers. This draws a large variety of feathered creatures and I keep an ear of molded corn on a special feeder just for the squirrels that reside in the edge of the woods above my house.
About the first day of the snow storm I arose one morning to hear strange bird songs outside my kitchen window that I was not familiar with. Looking out I saw hundreds of birds I had never seen before. They were dark birds with what appeared to be flecks of white and they had white beaks. I had no idea what they were but taking into account the large numbers, I guessed Starlings. After googling the situation I discovered they were definitely European Starlings.
I had only ever seen them when they do the massive groups swirling in the sky, not unlike a beautiful synchronized dance on the wind. That is scientifically called a Starling Murmuration. From a distance they are beautiful, up close I’m here to say they aren’t even one generation away from being “poor white trash.”
For about three days of hell I witnessed them bully the other birds and take over everything. They roosted on everything leaving a thick crust of feces on antique metal lawn chairs, all the bird feeders, the top of the stone retaining wall in my back yard and the Weber charcoal grill. The upper lawn is a solid mass of the mess and right now I’m doing a rain dance and praying fervently for God to give my home a long, heavy rain shower.
When I first heard their bird song it was quite pleasant. After three days of it I was nearly ready to commit murder. It is an unusual sound but they also have the uncommon ability to mimic other sounds like a barking dog, car alarms and a variety of sounds including the human voice. All this I learned by reading up on them attempting to discover a means of eradicating them. In case you’re interested Youtube is filled with clips of Starlings imitating human speech.
During my research I discovered a man called Eugene Schieffelin brought 100 Starling to New York City in 1890. He released them in Central Park to honor they had been mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays. At the time it was somewhat comical but considering how they have become such an overwhelming number not few are laughing now. I know I’m not!
Another interesting fact I gleaned from my reading was their beaks. Unlike most birds, a Starling’s jaw muscles work backward. Instead of using most of their power to clamp their bills shut, the strength of the muscles are used to spring the bill open. They insert the closed bill between blades of grass in thick turf or other ground cover and then spring it open to expose hidden morsels. I had often seen large numbers for brief amounts of time on the lower lawn doing this in the Zoysia grass.
Because of their increasing numbers and their aggressive behavior they have few friends among humans. The reason they gather in mega flocks is for protection and finding food sources. Their fecal matter can cause health hazards. They have created problems at airports, endangering the planes and they are generally labeled “a nuisance.”
There were several techniques given to get them to move on. One was lethal eradication as they are not a protected species. There were a variety of scare devices and tactics but I finally decided to make sure there was no more food. I felt bad for my regular little visitors, the nuthatches, tufted titmice, cardinals and the large variety of woodpeckers but I knew it was the only way. With no more food they lingered a short time and then moved on to invade some other place not unlike a mass of unwelcome carpetbaggers. The feeders remained empty until I felt assured they were gone and they are now refilled and my little guys have come back to flit and fly and create great entertainment in peace and harmony once more.
