They are coming...
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| Who? |
An alien invasion is coming...
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| Sound the alert!! |
Fly away
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| Fly, fly! |
Get out of the open
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| Uh, oh.. |
Hide if you can
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| Can they see me? |
Because they are here
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| I can't look! |
STARLINGS.
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| WE'RE HERE... |
European starlings have come to invade the Red House Garden.
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| Oh crap.. |
They will eat all your food..
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| GET AWAY ALL YOU LITTLE BIRDS! THIS FOOD IS OURS! |
..steal all your nesting sites,
and sometimes even kick out existing eggs or babies,
contributing to the decline of several of your native American species.
contributing to the decline of several of your native American species.
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| Oh that's low.. |
They will also poop all over your baffle.
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| MUWAHAHA!! |
What can you do about this alien invasion?
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| We should call those Mission Impossible squirrels! |
Remove any food that they are attracted to, such as mixes with millet and millo, or use only bird feeders that little birds can get into. Keep the ground under the bird feeders clear of seeds.
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| WHY ARE THERE NO SEEDS HERE?! |
If you provide bird houses, make sure the entrances of your bird houses are too small for these aliens. If you provide large boxes for birds such as Northern flickers, watch over them to make sure that Starlings do not move in.
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| I still think we should fight! |
Hopefully then your aliens invasion problems will be solved..
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| I'M NOT SCARED OF NO SQUIRREL! THIS PLACE JUST DOESN'T HAVE ANY GOOD FOOD! |
..and they will fly away.
Ah, yes. Starlings. We have loads of them in our yard but oddly enough they leave the suet feeders alone, for the most part. Our yard came with four very mature fig trees. The starlings live, I think, for these figs to get ripe. The trees are huge and we can't possibly reach all those figs, even on a ladder, so it's a win-win for everyone (starlings eat out-of-reach figs, other birds eat seed and suet) - except that it's a poop fest under those fig trees. Sigh. Could be worse. I hope they don't cause a big problem for you there. They can be so mean!
ReplyDeleteYour post made me laugh. I have to say I miss the summer birds, but the huge black cloud of starlings that comes this way I could do without. It's just a little too much like "The Birds".
ReplyDeleteLovely post. I wish we had more starlings. We only have two regularly at the feeders, there were groups a few years back. The mummerations of starlings at sunset are also much smaller. They seem to be in decline.
ReplyDeleteOh yes, the trials of trying to feed some critters and not others. Starlings not a problem here so much as the hawks that haunt the feeder, wanting to pick off small juicy birds. Great photos of all the visitors!
ReplyDelete"Why can't we all just get along?" (from Mars Attacks!)
ReplyDeleteStarlings haven't made it to Michigan yet. The first new visitors to the bird feeder that I notice are the red wing blackbirds, but we have a month or two before they return.
ReplyDeleteWe had bluebirds living in birdhouses that we put up, but House Sparrows through them out and have taken over. The sparrows even fight with chickadees and win. We clean out the bird houses and the bluebirds visit, but get kicked out. Anyone know how to keep sparrows away?
Try using clear fishing line to keep sparrows out of bluebird boxes.
DeleteThis page at Sialis (http://www.sialis.org/hosp.htm) has a wealth of information about bird boxes. If you scroll about 3/4 of the way down the page, you will see a diagram and a photo of how to use string to keep sparrows out of bluebird boxes. ~Debra, Gardens Inspired
Thanks, Debra! I haven't had to have any experience with sparrows yet.. (knocking on lots of wood!)
DeleteIndie,
ReplyDeleteWe have yet to get them here, because we live in the woods and not in a very populated place. Enjoyed this post, sorry you have to deal with those aliens.
Just come across your blog. Lovely photos. i wondered where our starlings had gone to.
ReplyDeleteStrange as it may seem, I don't see as many Starlings around as I used to here in Houston. Cute post, but I agree...Starlings are NOT Darlings.
ReplyDeleteDavid/:0)
I love starlings... But then; they're native to Denmark, so when the great flocks (hundreds of thousands) gather over the marshes of Western Denmark on spring evenings, it's not considered anything but one of nature's great spectacles. I'm sure I'd feel differently about them if they were an invasive species like they are in North America.
ReplyDeleteIndie, so far our gardens have been able to escape the attention of starlings. I hope to keep it that way after reading your post. We have enough challenge with the Blue Jay bullies in the garden.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the tips about how to handle the situation if it does arise! ~Debra
We have many starlings and they are not afraid of squirrels either. You have some beautiful bird captures and they have such cool expressions too.
ReplyDeleteHAHA! I love starlings...so naughty! I tried putting shorter pegs on birdfeeders to stop the buggers landing but still they manage to hold on, eat upside down & even hover like hummingbirds. You gotta love 'em for trying. I love how they poop, bathe & drink the same birdbath water. Embrace the starling...mwhahaha! x
ReplyDelete