Dove, I was watching one juvenile starling this morning on the water bath. It couldn't quite workout where the water was. I kept thinking look down its infront of your beak!! funny, beautifulbirds, but incredibly greedy. I've had to buy much more seed this year than last year. Yesterday we had over 50 on our lawn. The noisy lot are nesting in the roof opposite.
Incidently, has anyone found a robust starling proof bird feeder. They eat everything on the bird table, which is fine, but then polish off the hanging feeders....proving very costly.
I stayed at a hotel in Trouville, near Le Havre, a few years ago. There was a parking area at the rear of the hotel with a few big plane trees. I just managed to find space in a corner of the park. About 10pm 1000+ starlings turned up to roost in the trees with much twittering before they settled, but a beautiful sight - plumage glittering in the streetlights. In the morning the hotelier was out with a bucket and sponge washing an immense amount of poo off all the cars (except mine, which wasn't under the trees).
Starlings seem to prefer the suburbs to the country. Where I lived at this time last year, we regularly got starlings walking around the cul de sac in a pack of about 20 and they would go from front garden to front garden foraging for bugs etc. Now I live further out of town and back onto a river and farmland, I never see a starling. All sorts of other birds, which is great but no starlings. I used to love how the sparrows would join the group of starlings and walk around with them too.
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Dove, I was watching one juvenile starling this morning on the water bath. It couldn't quite workout where the water was. I kept thinking look down its infront of your beak!! funny, beautifulbirds, but incredibly greedy. I've had to buy much more seed this year than last year. Yesterday we had over 50 on our lawn. The noisy lot are nesting in the roof opposite.
Incidently, has anyone found a robust starling proof bird feeder. They eat everything on the bird table, which is fine, but then polish off the hanging feeders....proving very costly.
I stayed at a hotel in Trouville, near Le Havre, a few years ago. There was a parking area at the rear of the hotel with a few big plane trees. I just managed to find space in a corner of the park. About 10pm 1000+ starlings turned up to roost in the trees with much twittering before they settled, but a beautiful sight - plumage glittering in the streetlights. In the morning the hotelier was out with a bucket and sponge washing an immense amount of poo off all the cars (except mine, which wasn't under the trees).
Starlings seem to prefer the suburbs to the country. Where I lived at this time last year, we regularly got starlings walking around the cul de sac in a pack of about 20 and they would go from front garden to front garden foraging for bugs etc. Now I live further out of town and back onto a river and farmland, I never see a starling. All sorts of other birds, which is great but no starlings. I used to love how the sparrows would join the group of starlings and walk around with them too.
Well ..hop around would probably be a better description
We tend to get starlings round when they help airate the lawn, not much otherwise. They do leave oilslicks in the bird bath, just like wood pigeons.
Buttercupdays, one in my garden also imitates my house phone which is very annoying!