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Does anyone else like starlings?

PyraPyra Central Scotland Posts: 139
in Wildlife gardening
Or share birds you like that annoy everyone else!  :D 

I really like them, I think they're hilarious. And they're also gorgeous in their own way. But I know other people can't stand them. 
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  • pansyfacepansyface PEAK DISTRICT DerbyshirePosts: 17,971
    I like starlings but I haven’t seen one for years. Sixty years ago they were a dime a dozen. One of the loser-outers of modern farming practises.
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
  • madpenguinmadpenguin Isle of WightPosts: 2,245
    I quite like Starlings now,they squabble like teenagers!
    The ones I could do without are the Wood Pigeons,but they are still a part of the natural world so I just try to discourage them rather than get rid of.
    “Every day is ordinary, until it isn't.” - Bernard Cornwell-Death of Kings
  • pansyfacepansyface PEAK DISTRICT DerbyshirePosts: 17,971
    “Me feet hurt, Betty”. 

    The call of the woodpigeon.
    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
  • josusa47josusa47 Posts: 3,532
    I have to laugh when the parents bring the fledglings to the feeders.  The young, having done nothing all their lives but eat, are bigger than the parents who've spent weeks flying back and forth with food and probably eating little of it themselves.  The young are quite capable of feeding themselves, but still they cheep and squat and gape as if they're helpless, and the parents are daft enough to keep stuffing in the food.  Who'd have teenagers, eh?
  • pansyfacepansyface PEAK DISTRICT DerbyshirePosts: 17,971


    Who said “pigeons”?



    Apophthegm -  a big word for a small thought.
  • DovefromaboveDovefromabove Central Norfolk UKPosts: 66,205
    A family of starlings live under next door's tiles ... the male whistles and chatters to us every morning ... love them.  One year they had one youngster who wasn't as bright as the rest ... he just chuntered around the garden, not flying much and not joining in with his siblings ... think the neighbour's cat got him ... we miss him.  There are several families of starlings live around here and we've been watching them group up and practice their formation flying ... later on they'll be joining all their pals and roost in the reedbeds on the marshes over the rise ... love 'em. 
    “I am not lost, for I know where I am. But however, where I am may be lost.” Winnie the Pooh







  • tuikowhai34tuikowhai34 Béziers, Herault, FrancePosts: 740
    We have them here @pansyface !!  In the Autumn, when they are getting ready to fly to warmer climes, their air formation is spectacular.  People video them to post on FB.
    A good hoeing is worth two waterings.

  • AnniDAnniD Posts: 7,310
    edited June 2020
    Pigeons for me. With the hot weather we have had the bedroom windows open, and they start that "Me knee hurts Betty" business as soon as it gets light. (Having said that, l just can't hear "Me knee hurts Betty" no matter how hard l try).
    Two of them brought their offspring to sit on the pergola the other morning. 
    "See those windows Junior ? Sit here and make a racket as soon as it gets light. Then fly down to that birdbath and fill it full of scum (and worse) until you bung up the solar fountain. Job done".

    Starlings used to drive my nan mad. She'd be up and down banging on the front room window and they'd take no notice whatsoever. Ironically they were probably doing her a favour by eating the leatherjackets.

    Blackbirds on the other hand, love 'em. This is Scruff.  What a character. 

  • GemmaJFGemmaJF Posts: 2,286
    I like starlings, love the oily colours and antics they get up to. I wouldn't want a heron to take too much interest in our wildlife pond, but other than that, all birds whatever they may be welcome.
  • herbaceousherbaceous E. BerksPosts: 2,063
    I don't mind them, they are funny after the rain, slow marching across the 'lawn' like a search party but I draw the line when they hoi out my watercress and toss it about for fun.
    "The trouble with having an open mind, of course, is that people will insist on coming along and trying to put things in it."  Sir Terry Pratchett
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