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Barnyard Buddies:  Ugh. Starlings.  |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
 Posted - Feb 22 2009 : 06:20:43 AM
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As I sit here on a quiet, snowy (double ugh) Sunday morning, sipping ocffee, the Starlings outside my window are attacking each other viciously, swarming around a small suet cage, sounding like a band of harpees in a dark wood. I know everyone has to eat...I know this. But why did these birds find my feeder? They come back 2 times daily and chaos ensues. And, they eat me out of house and home.
Any good Starling deterents that don't scare away other birds? Now the silly sparrows are fighting as well. I guess they see it gets you what you want! |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2009 : 10:51:51 AM
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Evil things. Sorry, no good advice but my sympathy. I'm generally a live-and-let live sort, but starlings bring out the exterminator in me. Another case of an imported animal "oh, wouldn't it be neat if..." gone horribly, horribly wrong.
We make a difference. http://huckleberrywine.blogspot.com |
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electricdunce
True Blue Farmgirl
2544 Posts
Karin
Belmont
ME
USA
2544 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2009 : 10:56:32 AM
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Starlings are such greedy little bums. I'm still cursing the person who introduced them to this country, supposedly so that every bird mentioned in Shakespeare would be here. When my tiny mother was alive she used to think up evil ways to get rid of the starlings, she never attempted any of them. My favorite was her scheme that involved feeding them rum soaked corn and then putting them in a sack and drowning them. Not that she sould do it, not that it would work, but it did make me laugh.
I know exactly what you are talking about....I wish I had a helpful suggestion....
Karin
Farmgirl Sister #153
"Give me shelter from the storm" - Bob Dylan
http://moodranch.blogspot.com
http://domesticnonsense.etsy.com |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2009 : 10:59:30 AM
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A friend of mine feeds "her birds" and when those birds and the doves start coming she stops feeding them for awile. They go away then. but they always come back. There doesn't seem to be anything to keep them away except no food.
You should have seen out here this week. There were thousands of those black birds everywhere. We could hear them coming, too. The whole sky would be black with them. The trees loaded. They were here for several days, then nothing. But sometimes it was so loud, we'd have to shout to hear each other. A little scary, too. Like the Alfred Hitchcock movie "The Birds".
No babe yet???? Gee, it sure is taking forever! All this waiting is making me crazy. If she waits too much longer, she'll have to be March Violet!
Kris
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. Maori proverb |
Edited by - kristin sherrill on Feb 22 2009 11:00:26 AM |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2009 : 11:37:39 AM
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Everybody hates starlings. My city even tried to come up with a plan to get rid of them downtown. But I wish I had some(is 'some' even possible?) at the farm. I read an old gardening book a few months ago(thrift store purchase) and the author insists that starlings eat Japanese beetles like nacho chips(he didn't say nacho chips. I don't think nacho chips had been invented when this book was written). I'm oh, so very tired of japanese beetles...their larvae, their sex dances on my daylilies(the lilies are the ONLY thing they don't eat...they just have sex there), making more of their worthless selves....Vi, can you send me some starlings? Pack their little suitcases and box them up! :D
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
Edited by - Miss Bee Haven on Feb 22 2009 11:46:07 AM |
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Huckelberrywine
True Blue Farmgirl
1607 Posts
Michelle
Rosalia
1607 Posts |
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prariehawk
True Blue Farmgirl
2914 Posts
Cindy
2914 Posts |
Posted - Feb 22 2009 : 11:21:02 PM
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Regarding starlings--I live in town and in the evening, I can't even walk my dog (Cause of the bird droppings--bombs away!). Once they got my car--it wasn't pretty. I once managed to catch four and twenty of them and I baked them in a pie--when the pie was opened, the birds began to sing--not really, but it's a nice thought. Whoever came up with that nursery rhyme hated starlings. 
Prariehawk |
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farm~maid
True Blue Farmgirl
176 Posts
Christine
IN
USA
176 Posts |
Posted - Feb 23 2009 : 06:03:25 AM
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We have an abundance of starlings and they must not care for Japanese beetles because we have lots of them, too.
Seems we get rid of one Starling and two appear.
Oh, and when they get the vehicles parked in the driveway - what a mess! It's not a pretty sight when my husband sees what they've left behind.
Christine |
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Miss Bee Haven
True Blue Farmgirl
4331 Posts
Janice
Louisville/Irvington
Kentucky
USA
4331 Posts |
Posted - Feb 23 2009 : 06:05:13 AM
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Hate to hear that, Christine. I was ready to trade one scourge for another. Oh, well. Back to the drawing board with a Japanese beetle remedy.
Farmgirl Sister #50
"If you think you've got it nailed down, then what's all that around it?"
'Br.Dave Gardner' |
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Woodswoman
True Blue Farmgirl
512 Posts
Jennifer
Altamont
NY
USA
512 Posts |
Posted - Feb 24 2009 : 4:34:37 PM
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I'll chime in with my sympathies-I hate the darn things.
The only thing I've found that works is not filling the feeders for a while. That just about kills me, though, because then I start thinking the other birds all looks sad.....
Running outside yelling and waving my arms at them has its merits, but doesn't work for very long. Good thing I live in the woods with no close neighbors!
Jennifer
Farmgirl Sister #104
"Nature brings to every time and season some beauties of its own".
-Charles Dickens |
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FebruaryViolet
True Blue Farmgirl
4810 Posts
Jonni
Elsmere
Kentucky
USA
4810 Posts |
Posted - Feb 24 2009 : 4:45:49 PM
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Well...it doesn't sound hopeful, does it? I agree, Karin--I curse the Brit who brought them here to assist with bugs. Why eat bugs when you can eat berry suet, I ask you? Your mom sounds like a lady I would have liked very much...wouldn't hurt a fly, but had every remedy for them!!!
Poor Janice---the beetles have sex on your lily's? Oh my. We used to have many Japanese Beetles around this area when I was younger, but they seem to have moved on. I recall them being VERY fond of my mothers roses, but I don't see them on mine. No rhyme or reason...
Jennifer, you sound like me...I open the window here at the desk, right where the suet cage is, and slam it down...they go away, but they come right back. I too, hate stopping the feeding for a while, because we have such a nice variety of birds and they look so forlorn when the feeder is empty. That towee can break your heart!
Kristin, no babe yet--I know!!!! We had an appointment today and even though I'm not swelling or anything like that, I apparently have symptoms of toxemia and hypertension--the doc said "no more work" because of the risk of seizure. I just feel tired, but my blood pressure was 160 over something or other, and they found protein in my urine.
I blame it on the starlings!!!!!! |
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Feb 24 2009 : 7:10:00 PM
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You better do what the doctor says for now. Just take it easy these last few days. You will be glad you did. If you're tired now, just you wait, girl. This ain't nuthin'! Just sit back and let the husband take care of you, if you can get him to. I know how it is to wait. My 2nd was a week late, but when she decided she was ready, it only took a few hours. Sleep, sleep sleep now, too. I just hope your blood pressure will get back to normal and the little one will come on soon.
Take it easy and enjoy these last few days. Kris
Turn your face to the sun and the shadows fall behind you. Maori proverb |
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K-Falls Farmgirl
Chapter Leader
2096 Posts
Cheryl
Klamath Falls
Oregon
USA
2096 Posts |
Posted - Feb 26 2009 : 3:38:35 PM
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I am sorry to say this but I hate those pesky starlings too. I think I should have my grandson come visit and bring his BB gun.. or air gun to scare them away. They are getting into the chicken studio.. We have made every effort to scare them off, closed every little spot they could get into and they still find a way. I say Shoot them good taget practice..
Cheryl
Farmgirl #309
Almost daily posts at:
http://www.k-fallsfarmgirl.blogspot.com/
Come visit the barn at http://barndoorcreations.blogspot.com/
Every time I hear the dirty word 'exercise',
I wash my mouth out with chocolate.
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lelasfriend
True Blue Farmgirl
109 Posts
sara
baltimore
MD
USA
109 Posts |
Posted - Mar 06 2009 : 2:28:44 PM
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Starlings are a real menace! They are an invasive species that are driving out our native birds. I just spent a week starling proofing my chicken coop. The birds can get through almost anything and we eating all my chickens food. We had two chickens die of starvation because of starlings not only eating all their food but drinking all their water. It was like something out of Alfred Hitchcock's The birds. We would have 500 at a time getting in the coop. I used hardware cloth to plug up all the little holes and cracks and I think we finally won the starling war. But I would definitely not encourage them around a backyard feeder either. How to keep them away is definitely a problem though...Sara |
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pnygrl
Farmgirl in Training
34 Posts
Adrianne
Chazy
New York
USA
34 Posts |
Posted - Mar 09 2009 : 10:54:09 AM
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| Shoot them- totally legal- or you can support your local falconer and let them trap your starlings to train their predatory birds to hunt.... |
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Barnyard Buddies: Ugh. Starlings. |
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Ugh. Starlings.
