STARLING WARS

The last few days we've been inundated with starlings. Huge fifty, sixty bird flocks of them crawling all over our bird feeders. Reminds me of a hot dog someone dropped on the ground at a picnic, all covered with ants.

I guess it's not surprising given that we just had another foot of snow dumped on us. It's hard for any bird to find something to eat. And it's not like I'd begrudge starlings a meal--everybody's gotta eat.

No, my objection to starlings is the way they completely overwhelm the feeders so no other birds can eat and the fact they throw all the bird seed on the ground. They can empty your feeders in a matter of minutes if you let them. And that's my money they're throwing into the snow.

So now the starling wars have been joined. I dragged my brand new Red Ryder BB gun out of the basement, filled it with BBs and parked it next to the patio doors. All morning today I've been keeping an eagle eye on things and when the starlings swarm the feeders, I pop the door open and let loose a shot or two.

I'll say this for them, they're persistent as all get out. They employ a system to sneak in the moment your attention flags. Most sit in high trees a couple hundred feet from the house and watch. When the coast seems clear, they send in a handful of scouts to attack the feeders. If there's no counterattack, the entire mass of them glom onto every feeder at once. Sometimes there are three or four of them hanging from the same suet feeder simultaneously. Amazing.

Then I remember to check, open the door and either shoot at them or simply yell, and the game starts all over again.

The blue jays, cardinals and chickadees seem to grasp what's happening and some of them won't even fly away when I counterattack. Of course the starlings are smart enough to figure out that if some birds are still there, there may not be any real danger, so they're returning to the feeders more quickly than they did when I first began my maneuvers. This could get old real fast. 

On a related note, I saw some birds here today I shouldn't be seeing yet. An eastern towhee came to the feeders about 11 this morning, something that has never happened before. What a towhee is doing in this part of Ohio at this time of year is something I can't fathom. I also saw a red-wing blackbird. You could barely make out his epaulets, which won't brighten until breeding season. They're generally harbingers of spring, but the forecast here is for snow, snow and more snow.

Also saw a yellow-shafted flicker this morning, which is a first. Strange day here, but with this much snow cover it makes sense. Birds that would never come to feeders have little option.

NB: Just discovered another way to scare the starlings real well. Plugged my iPhone into the external speakers I have for it and played the call of a Cooper's hawk and a great horned owl. Seems to put some fear into them for a little while.