Starlings Galore (1 Viewer)

[Peewit]

Hi there

Our garden is a magnet for young Starlings at the moment.

I only put out food this morning and it was gone by mid-afternoon today. A total of 12 Tesco Scones went with relish between all the 'noisy' squabbles and fights. :eek!:

Just re-filled the feeders now. I noticed my regular Blackbirds being quite aggressive at the Starlings as they cannot get anywhere near the food at all. Who can blame them with all those teenagers about.

I took some photos of the action at the feeder. Love when the Starling appears behind the square feeder and tests it out, then in the next photo it takes a large mouthful - greedy thing!

Regards
Kathy
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[owlsgomoo]

Starlings are such characters! A few years ago my parents used to get many more Starlings in their garden than they do now, which is a shame, but they would literally devour all the food in the garden in about half an hour. A lot of Starlings where I currently live and the house just across the path from me has them nesting (maybe had, they could have fledged by now!) in their roof, though every time I tried looking for them, it looked like I was just staring at their bedroom window with my binoculars - haha!

 

[Peewit]

Starlings are such characters! A few years ago my parents used to get many more Starlings in their garden than they do now, which is a shame, but they would literally devour all the food in the garden in about half an hour. A lot of Starlings where I currently live and the house just across the path from me has them nesting (maybe had, they could have fledged by now!) in their roof, though every time I tried looking for them, it looked like I was just staring at their bedroom window with my binoculars - haha!

Yes, Starlings are the clowns that they are. I believe they like the roof areas of our houses to raise their families - the noise that they make is unmistakable.

I know what you mean about binoculars, and house windows...LOL :gh:

I have taken photos of birds, wildlife, etc... and quite often I forget that I am pointing my camera towards someone's window. OH is always making me aware of this so we have to be a little careful.

Regards
Kathy
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[Peewit]

New Fatball Feeder

Hi there

I bought this Metal Fat Ball holder from the local bird food stockist to us.

It is a daisy wheel, and can hold 6 Fat balls.

Yet, again it is ideal for broken up Tesco scones and the young Starlings love scones. At least it spreads the birds about the garden so all species get a fair chance of a feed.

Once the Starlings get used to it I will get some more photos of the birds in action along with their antics

Regards
Kathy
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[Peewit]

Hi there

Yes, the Starlings took less than than an hour to work out how that the new feeder was there and they argued over it like they do in their groups. o

Excuse the photos as they where taken through the patio window - and it was a little on the reflective side of things so i have to darken them manually.

Regards
Kathy
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[owlsgomoo]

Aren't they fab! What brand is the feeder? I quite like that, prefer it to the traditional looking ones!

 

[Peewit]

Aren't they fab! What brand is the feeder? I quite like that, prefer it to the traditional looking ones!

Hi Rebecca

This is a website to the same brand - 'The Daisy Fatball Feeder', though I got mine from Homebase in this case

http://www.thenuttery.com/categorie...c244f&pc=b9c36358-b793-4d5b-a9eb-43743cc90c8d

They are very robust, and very impressive. The good thing (I think depending on your views about Grey Squirrels!) is that the Grey Squirrels may find it harder to stay on them as they are very 'tippy' and the birds are better equiped to deal with that type of situation.

Regards
Kathy
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[Marmot]

Just wish got the number of Starlings we used to...as you said ours used to drown all the surrounding noise with the chattering..We are lucky to get a Starling coming into the garden now

 

[Peewit]

Just wish got the number of Starlings we used to...as you said ours used to drown all the surrounding noise with the chattering..We are lucky to get a Starling coming into the garden now

So sad to hear about your lack of starlings...Marmot :-C

Either they seem to be very common in someone's garden or they are not there at all - there is no half way in numbers with them at all.

I have counted 40 at the most in my garden all together over the past 2 years, though it is all youngsters at the moment...they still like to stick in their flocks.

Regards
Kathy
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[Marmot]

We seem to do really well with other species like Goldfinch [before the breeding statred we were getting about 12 in one go] and they always had Greenfinch and Chaffinch as well with them.

The strange thing with the Starlings at the end of the year there is Starling roost about 2 miles away at Dormans Pool [Nr RSPB Saltholme] which gets about 10,000 to 15,000 Starling
Not sure if this link will work of IanF [husband] from Birdforum TV
http://www.birdforum.tv/members/action/viewvideo/2353/Starling_Roost_at_Dormans_Pool_20_11_2010/

 

[Peewit]

We seem to do really well with other species like Goldfinch [before the breeding statred we were getting about 12 in one go] and they always had Greenfinch and Chaffinch as well with them.

The strange thing with the Starlings at the end of the year there is Starling roost about 2 miles away at Dormans Pool [Nr RSPB Saltholme] which gets about 10,000 to 15,000 Starling
Not sure if this link will work of IanF [husband] from Birdforum TV
http://www.birdforum.tv/members/action/viewvideo/2353/Starling_Roost_at_Dormans_Pool_20_11_2010/

Hi Marmot

Funnily, you mention Goldfinches, and we seen to go into extreme ups and downs with Goldfinches. This is with a well stocked container of Nyjer Seed hung up in the garden 24/7.

We have Greenfinches on the odd occasion, and Chaffinches are always around somewhere, closeby. Chaffinches love the hard black Sunflower Seeds, and the Sunflowers Seeds go down a treat. I have noted the Finches love for them despite of the softer option of the sunflower hearts.

I had to log into the TV area of BF to see Ian's video, and yes that is a healthy number of Starlings to see...wow.. a sky load of them.
Strange how the Starlings have not tracked down the food source to your garden. Maybe someone is giving them so much food they never need to go anywhere else :eek!:

Nature can be strange at times

Regards
kathy
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[Romafree]

Plenty of starlings to report here!! I do find them useful in that they will feed off the ground also (clearing up the mess both they makeand others as they eat from the feeders and bird table)...this means less bird seed etc for my 3 yorkies, lol!!
Kathy, I do like the "Scone" feeder!! (This would be another big hit with the yorkies, they would probably wait underneath for the crumbs!)

 

[HartleyHare]

We had dozens of Starlings at our previous house. They were tame enough to feed off the patio table whilst we were sitting there and the fledglings often came into the conservatory. There are not so many up here, which could be a bit of a mixed blessing in some ways. I like Starlings but they can be aggressive to smaller birds. They literally shove them off the tables and feeders and will not allow them back on. I've tried placing the tables and feeders in different locations and scattering the food onto the ground , but the Starlings just split up into smaller groups.

I like the fatball/scone feeder, will have to invest in oneof them.