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Starling Intelligence (1 Viewer)

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barelyb

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As part of my documentary project on starlings, I'm filming examples of intelligent behavior exhibited by these birds. As far as I know, I've recorded the first instance of tool use by a starling. He just happens to be my pet as well. He discovered this entirely on his own. I was quite shocked as I watched him do this the first time.

http://vimeo.com/channels/unwelcomesuccess#17588715

I won't taint your interpretation of the footage. Just watch and you be the judge.
 
Cool vid

I have a book called 'The Worlds Smartest Animals' and it mentions an experiment done on starlings. The starlings wer out in a cage with a plug, and under the the plug was food. The starlings didn't know what to do at first. Then they saw a person pull the plug. The starlings copied this and god the foot. Other starlings were shown the plug being pushed, and pushed it in to get the food. This showed that starlings could learn from things
 
Mannix said:
Do you mind if I ask how you came to have a Starling as a pet?
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I live in the United States where the only non-protected birds are pigeons, house sparrows and starlings. This is because they are non-native species. Due to their status, they are the only wild birds that can be kept as "pets". I've been helping some local folks who rehab songbirds by rehabbing starlings (they don't particularly like starlings). I raised Chur and he was the only one I have not released into the wild. I kept him because I recognized an uncommon intelligence as an early fledging. It's been a remarkable experience. He has a fairly large vocabulary and even makes up his own "sentences". He also figured out how to escape his cage by opening the gate within a few days. These birds are hugely under-appreciated here in the US. I intend to change that by educating those who will watch the documentary I'm producing.
 
barelyb said:
I live in the United States where the only non-protected birds are pigeons, house sparrows and starlings. This is because they are non-native species. Due to their status, they are the only wild birds that can be kept as "pets". I've been helping some local folks who rehab songbirds by rehabbing starlings (they don't particularly like starlings). I raised Chur and he was the only one I have not released into the wild. I kept him because I recognized an uncommon intelligence as an early fledging. It's been a remarkable experience. He has a fairly large vocabulary and even makes up his own "sentences". He also figured out how to escape his cage by opening the gate within a few days. These birds are hugely under-appreciated here in the US. I intend to change that by educating those who will watch the documentary I'm producing.
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So his intelligence sentenced him to a life in a cage? Sorry to persist but I am totally against the caging of birds, especially ones which can be set free. Surely if he is that intelligent, then he is going to suffer more than a less intelligent animal by being locked up.
 
Mannix said:
So his intelligence sentenced him to a life in a cage? Sorry to persist but I am totally against the caging of birds, especially ones which can be set free. Surely if he is that intelligent, then he is going to suffer more than a less intelligent animal by being locked up.
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Sorry to disagree with you Mannix, but starlings in the wild live about 4-5 years (roughly 50% die as a fledgling Feare, 1984) and in captivity 15-20 years. Also, you have to realize he doesn't know any different. He's been raised in captivity all his life. He also gets to fly free in the house several times a day and he and I have a pretty good time. In general I would agree with you but starlings are largely HATED here in the US by supposed bird "lovers." Chur is largely imprinted on me, so he would probably not survive in the wild. Anyway, thanks for your concern about him.
 
Yeah, this is a very difficult subject. Why are Starlings "hated" so much by birders? I can see no reason for hating any creature.
 
Mannix said:
Yeah, this is a very difficult subject. Why are Starlings "hated" so much by birders? I can see no reason for hating any creature.
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As you're probably aware, the European Starling was introduced in the United States in the spring of 1890. Today, the population in the continental US represents about 1/3 of the world's total. They have been incredibly successful here and consequently they are incredibly common and present in large numbers. Many birders perceive them as "invasive" and competing for nesting areas and food with indigenous species. My contention is they are now "native" here and aren't going anywhere (attempts were made to erradicate them by killing 8+ million a few decades ago -- to no avail). I'm trying to change the perception of them in my documentary and hopefully provide some good PR for these exceptional birds.
 
Aah right. So birders hate them for being successful. Yeah well I'm afraid we all have to swallow things like that. We have quite a few of your cast offs too which we aren't too fond of. Grey Squirrels spring to mind. I hope they change their mind as Starlings are one of my favourite birds.
 
It was popular in the mid to late 1800s to import animals (including fish) in some countries around the world. These so-called "acclimatization" societies were formed in Australia and New Zealand as well as the United States. I'm not sure if you had one in England or not. I've done quite a bit of research on the American Acclimatization Society. They were responsible for the introduction of the House (English) Sparrow in the 1860s as well as the European Starling here in the US. I find it appalling the supposed bird "lovers" despise them so much, even songbird rehabbers I've worked with. It's a shame,and I'm doing my best to change that perception with my documentary. They are remarkable birds and as you've pointed out quite the evolutionary marvels in my opinion. They need to be appreciated for what they are.
 
By the way, since you like starlings you can watch my nestboxes at http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nestbox-cam2. Momma birdie has laid 3 eggs so far and will be laying another tomorrow around 10am CDST (around 14:00 your time). She's been laying them like clockwork, every 24hrs, the past 3 days. The cam is daylight only and isn't visible at night but you can hear her. Will should prove to be a fascinating watch as it progresses. I have 3 nestboxes and although she's the only tenant so far, nestbox #3 has the beginnings of a nest as well.
 
Hi barley i love starlings they are smart, i have a bunch of them that visit me everyday , they see me open my door and they come down, because i feed them suet in half a coconut shell and fat balls , they get closer and closer everytime its cool :) hows your documentary going? its a shame Americans hate them .
 
Mannix said:
Aah right. So birders hate them for being successful. Yeah well I'm afraid we all have to swallow things like that. We have quite a few of your cast offs too which we aren't too fond of. Grey Squirrels spring to mind. I hope they change their mind as Starlings are one of my favourite birds.
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It is nothing to do about their success, they were introduced to the country and thus non-native and their success is sort of a cheat, It is kind of like cane toads in Australia, the only reason they are successful is because of there being nothing to control their numbers e.g natural predators.

BOP may hunt the starling in the USA but being a non native means they are pushing native species out of their own habitat (if there is proof of this that is, if they have no detrimental affect on native species then I have no quarrel).
 
It is estimated that we now have more than 200 million starlings, and I don't think there is any doubt as to starlings pushing out native species. To quote Cornell Univ. (one of the world's foremost ornithology programs) "Starlings readily and aggressively displace nesting pairs of other species from their nests, often destroying eggs and killing nestlings. They often out-compete woodpeckers, Great Crested Flycatchers, Tree Swallows, Eastern Bluebirds, and Purple Martins for nesting sites. Consequently, the populations of these and other native cavity-nesting species have declined." Full article here: ttp://www.birds.cornell.edu/nestinginfo/bios/sp_accts/eust

Economically, they can also be quite costly to agriculture and livestock production (http://lib.colostate.edu/research/agnic/starlings.html).

I don't find it hard to believe at all that they are often despised. In much of the historical range of Eastern Bluebirds, the only way they have been able to survive is through the use of nest boxes, as they are out-competed by starlings for natural cavities.

Mannix - besides the grey squirrel, I wasn't aware you had quite a few "cast-offs" from over here. Can you give some more examples? I can think of the bullfrog and Red Crayfish.
 
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