Managing Starling Populations

Best time to trap is when the snow flies. Suet. Can Adult European Starling. Photo by E Zimmerman

smell peanut butter? take out tattered.

The EUST are very wary due to the moving of the elevator. They know something is amiss and due to their big size, they can thrust their head through to the bait without entering the elevator for the most part. The bait has to be back very far. Also, the elevator is really a bit too narrow for them for ultimate trapping. What happens is when they do hop on it, their tail still sticks out onto the entry platform and they can often back out. If they move their tail to the side a bit, the elevator will go down and now they are trapped, but it is a really tight fit in the elevator chamber. I have observed 3 actually get caught and they are in the elevator chamber for 1 to 3 minutes before they push their way through. During one trapping, one smart EUST in the trapping chamber tried to push back through into the elevator with the newly trapped bird, but they eventually both ended up where they belonged.

I don't remember where it was I read it, but a highway department started safety tests on a bridge when a large flock that normally nested or roosted under the bridge suddenly left. The bridge needed work desperately. They figured that the vibrations that started as a result of the deterioration caused the starlings to leave, and alert them to the problem.

Thin canopy to discourage congreation. spray with detergent to distroy insulation preoperies.

The problem: victing Other Birds: Starlings aggressively evict other species from nesting cavities, including woodpecker species which excavate cavities. In their native range, starlings compete with woodpeckers, hoopoes (Upupa epops), and other cavity-nesting birds (Feare 1984). In North America, they compete aggressively for nesting cavities with Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa), Buffleheads (Bucephala albeola), Northern Flickers (Colaptes auratus), Red-bellied Woodpeckers (M. carolinus), Gila Woodpeckers (M. uropygialis), Acorn Woodpeckers (M. formicivorus), Great Crested Flycatchers (Myiarchus crinitus), Tree Swallows (Tachycineta bicolor), Purple Martins (Progne subis), Eastern Bluebirds (Sialia sialis), and other cavity nesting species (see Bent 1950, Ingold 1989, Kerpez and Smith 1990). Although few conclusive studies have been done, anecdotal evidence suggests that they have had a detrimental effect on many of these species.They often out-compete woodpeckers, Great Crested Flycatchers, Tree Swallows, Eastern Bluebirds, and Purple Martins for nesting sites.

Manage" here means general upkeep and maintenance of the martin colony, periodic sparrow and Starling nest clean out during the nesting season, cleaning and closing of martin houses when Purple Martins are gone, etc In managed colonies, rarely did more than one Starling pair occupy a single martin house (Brown 1977), but in unmanaged colonies several pairs of Starlings commonly used a single martin house. In large managed colonies, Starlings were timid, rarely interfered with martins, and were present only early in the nesting season (Brown 1977). But in large unmanaged colonies, Starlings were quite aggressive and often chased martins away. They entered martin nests and were present throughout the nesting season. Purple Martins appeared more agitated and less defensive of their territories in the unmanaged colonies.

fondness for corn, wheat, milo, and other grains. These non-natives can be very destructive to such agricultural crops as strawberries, blueberries, grapes, tomatoes, peaches, figs, apples, and cherries. They consume large quantities of livestock feed and can have a significant impact on the cost of dairy, egg and poultry production. Starlings will also pull up newly planted seeds causing reduced yields. Starlings feed on poke berries, elderberries, and wild cherries producing droppings that can cause unsightly stains.

Starlings commonly nest in man-made structures: between rafters in barns and open warehouses, in or behind signs, and in soffits and attics of houses. They commonly enter attics through torn or missing soffit or attic vents, openings where wires or plumbing enters the building, and even under loose siding.

http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Sturnus_vulgaris.html

Salmonella infection is well documented from starlings (Feare 1984). Other bacteria responsible for disease in birds and other animals have also been isolated from starlings, including Mycobacterium avium (avian tuberculosis), Leptospira laura, Erysipelothrix insidiosa, and Yersinia pseudo-tuberculosis. Other diseases include toxoplasmosis and aspergillosis (in Feare 1984).

Viral diseases isolated from starlings include Newcastle disease, avian pox, and yellow fever, dengue fever, tahyna, Omsk hemorrhagic fever, and several types of encephalitis-causing viruses (in Feare 1984). The importance of starlings as vectors of diseases of humans and domestic animals is not known.

Most starlings carry parasites; 99% have internal parasites, and 95% harbor ectoparasites (Boyd 1951). Ectoparasites include lice from both the Old World (Myrsidea cucullaris, Degeeriella nebulosa, Menacanthus spinosum) and North America (Degeeriella illustrus), the dipteran Ornithomyia fringillina, ticks (Ixodes brunneus, Haemaphysalis leporispalustris), and a number of mites.

For detailed analyses of endoparasites and additional references see Boyd (1951) and Cooper and Crites (1976). mites and lice.

To make the trap better for EUST trapping, all you would have to do is widen the elevator chamber a little - maybe 1 inch or 2 - my 2 cents.

I also think that 3 decoys is plenty with this bigger bird. croissant

You do have to clear the snow off the trip mechanism and bait area as best you can. I stick the bait as far back as I can. I like using little crumbly bait like Bluebird Banquet or little pieces of bread with peanut butter smeared on them. Little pieces of suet would work too. This also makes it easy to bait trap because I just sort of shove it through the mesh roof near the back end of the bait area. moist Tender Vittles pressed on top of it for the EUST bait

You have to adjust the weight of the tripping arm for the EUST too. Experiment with it. In past couple days, I have caught 9 EUST in the trap. I was watching them this morning and pulled the weights back farther again because they were backing out too quickly when they tapped it and it moved.

Success: Man-made structures are an important addition to available nest sites, agriculture has provided much more of the open habitat starlings favor, and garbage, livestock feeding, and certain crops have provided an immense amount of additional food resources which may be crucial to survival at certain times of the year. Starlings are so numerous in many areas that they are considered an undesirable nuisance. Starlings show little sensitivity to disturbance of any kind, and any initial response declines quickly with repeated exposure. Despite this, they often remain wary of humans, even with repeated exposure.

Shooting and trapping have often been attempted at large communal roosts in efforts to reduce damage to agriculture, fecal contamination of water supplies, etc., but are usually ineffective.

Numerous avian repellents and poisons have been tried on this species to limit crop damage and loss of livestock food (in Feare 1984), but little long-term control has been accomplished.

Human activities have enhanced starling habitat.Many techniques have been tried to limit the economic damage caused by starlings to planted crops, fruit production, and livestock feed losses. Some measures have been moderately successful for a while but usually not long-term.