I must say, trapping is far more efficient than shooting. If starlings/house sparrows are dominating the nest site, you can set a trap and leave it for a while. However, you can only sit and wait with a gun for so long. And, I do prefer to kill the male house sparrow, since he calls in the females. I can't tell male from female starling, so I kill both. Just to be safe. : )
Even though the starling didn't kill any of them, it was hard for me to watch, and I haven't since. I've built/maintained a bluebird trail for over 20 years, I know the devastation of these flying pestilence. Especially the house sparrows. I shoot when/where I can (.22), but mostly trap. Just bought three Van Erts and can't wait to "extinct" some house sparrows. I've heard they're on the decline. Not fast enough. I hope for extinction of starlings and house sparrows.
Go to the Cornell University website and read their study on Starlings and how native birds are faring just fine with them. Even Bluebirds are territorial and will attack each other during nesting. Don't make it seem like wild creatures do not fight. It's natural.
@PinkOld - Here's a quote from a Cornell University study on the effects of Starlings in the U.S., "With so many starlings around, this causes some concern about their effect on native bird populations. Nevertheless, a study in 2003 found few actual effects on populations of 27 native species. Only sapsuckers showed declines due to starlings; other species appeared to be holding their own against the invader."
@PinkOld Starlings are urban dwellers. They don't stray far from cities. They don't fly into the forests and take over wildlands. We kill lots of native species but you don't see us killing off humans lol. I'll jabber as much as I want to. This is my right to free speech, you idiot.
@youadee My farm is 10 miles from the nearest urban area, and I have problems with starlings.They are not just an urban problem anymore. Last year a pair took over one of my bluebird nestboxes; they killed the male bluebird and built their nest on top of him. I love nature and support different environmental organizations, but I know that starlings do not belong in the North American ecosystem. I don't find joy in killing anything, but I trap and shoot starlings for the sake of our native birds.
It was obviously not an invasion. As soon as it landed inside the nest it realized it was in trouble. You can tell it got nervous as it started open mouth breathing (panting) for birds. It was even gentle with the probing in the grass around the chicks and did not throw them out. It fought because the parents found it before it could leave. I can tell by the bird's behavior that it was not being intentionally ferocious. I have a pet Starling and I recognize their behavior.
@youadee I'm quite sure it would have done so had it not feared the return of the parents.
My folks put out Bluebird boxes many years ago, unaware that it is crucial that the entrance must not have a perch below it, and the starlings stood on that perch and pierced the eggs and killed any hatched chicks.
When the perches were removed, the chicks survived to adulthood.
Believe me when I say that starlings are very aggressive.
A mistake to judge them by human standards, but they are that.
You're the ignorant one. The starling was indeed curious about a nesting site and if had chosen this place it would have killed the babies and the parents and taken it over - this has been documented time and time again. Quit posting ignorance.
I use a high powered air rifle to kill starlings and sparrows and it has actually become an enjoyable hobby for me. Nothing like sighting in on a live target that really deserves it.
Starlings ARE the terrorists in the world of birds - did you even watch this video you fucking idiot?!? They are not native to our country but are an invasive species that were imported from Europe. Starlings almost drove our blue birds and other native species to extinction. Even the most adamant conservationist will tell you that starlings should be eliminated. Do some research before posting about something that you know absolutely about you moron. You have shit for brains
You people are ignorant about birds. Do some reading. You do realize this starling was just curious about a potential nesting site. This is NOT a starling "attack". The starling was just curious (notice, it did NOT immediately start killing the baby birds). It was actually being attacked by the martin as an intruder, a natual defense for its nest. I'm guessing it would have just left if it could have. This is nature's way. Get over it.
Excellent video!!!! I have witnessed it from the outside but never seen what is happening in the gourd. Except when I had a starling throwing babies out one time. Starlings seem to fall to the ground with a hole in them when they come near my martins. I think my martins have home defense weapons or a protective landlord....
@StarlingKiller It's a catch 22 situation....if they were never brought in, then our domestic birds would thrive better....on the other hand, if they were never brought in, we couldn't shoot at them improving our marksmanship.
"Just saying pure facts?" Be honest with yourself; you're just trying to mock people for preventing the extinction of native birds, laughing at them for wanting to preserve biodiversity.
No, it's just creation of your hate or your desire to own me tries to put words in to my mouth.... just calm down, i understand a problem now and in sorry about my first post here and it won't change fact that is human stupidy fault in first place as i said.
flintstone...Grackles are native and it is illegal to shoot them. The grackle may prey on nestlings but that is natural. That is just like shooting a hawk for eating a smaller bird. Shoot the starlings and European house sparrows.
I know from experience birds like this attack other birds to eliminate competition for food. The starling and the grackle (black with greenish-purple head) are the worst. They are strong and have that *&%# spear-like beak. I started shooting them with Sheridan air rifle. They got smart, stayed out of range. So I bought a 12 gauge shotgun. Killed several. This year not one came near my yard. They remember!!
This is why it is important to destroy starlings any chance you get and they killed off all the purple martins that I had before I knew about this behavior. I purchased the "deluxe repeating sparrow trap" and I have rid all the house sparrows from my area and I am working on starlings this thing works great. Some people love starlings but they don't understand that without population control they will continue to destroy songbirds also starlings are 1 of 3 birds unprotected so kill them at will.
As a would-have-been martin landlord --never got a colony-- but as a bluebird landlord, I'm very glad more people are becoming aware of the destructive nature of starlings/house sparrows. There are alot of people who will not listen to the warnings of allowing them to breed. I've lost bluebirds/tr. swallows to sparrows. They don't live long around me. Traps or rifle.
There are too many starlings in North America for a cull to be effective. It would be one thing just to "contain" them to urban areas like pigeons an house sparrows, but starlings flock and migrate, making that ineffective.
Starlings are tough birds for BB guns. Scoped Sheridan pump pellet guns are very effective because they are accurate and lethal. Just verify the target before pulling the trigger
oh my, thank you so much for telling me. we bought those a few years back and my martins would not use them, so my husband (duhhhhhhhhhh) made them round again!! fortunatey, we don't have too many starlings right here. I had sparrows for awhile at the beginning, by we got ride of those wit thhe bb gun. we have the most trouble with hawks!! and they are protected here. I have had a colony since l988. I will att my video I took today if I can.
The good news is that after the adults escaped the nest, the starling left the nest 30min later and never returned. The adults returned to the nest and the babies were okay. This nest hatched and fledged normally and all was okay.
But all nests have starling resistant entrances now :)
NOW I can see how I was correct in shooting all the starlings and sparrows that tried to invade our purple martin houses! I never realized what a menace they are to the purple martin young.
We live inside city limits so firearms are verboten. So we use a standard WalMart-issue air-rifle (BB gun). It works well for sparrows... not so well for starlings. Trapping works well for both. The nice thing about trapping is that it is unattended... you don't have to be watching.
All that said, these days we haven't had many problems with starlings are converting all our housing to starling-resistant entrances (SREHs). Now we just deal with sparrows and both ways work well for them.
@sgillbee Your air-rifle should be good enough for these small birds, just buy PELLETS. Not BBs. This should help with penetration on those starlings.
@sgillbee Seriously, get rid of the BB gun and get yourself a decent PELLET gun, preferably a .22 caliber capable of lobbing pellets at 500fps minimum, or a .177 capable of launching them out at about 700fps minimum.
You will discover that air rifles of that type and power range are VERY effective against those nasty starlings.
I've killed well over a hundred with such armament, and they fall as if hit by a brick, especially if I let them have it with my .22 Gamo CFX.
if you are VERY patient, you can shoot a lot of them because purple martins never land to eat, so if you put some sweet corn or other types of grain in a pile on the ground below the house, you can shoot & kill many sparrows and starlings. we have done it a lot in the past.
last year i shot over 2 thousand starlings with my pcp...but this year i shot just over a hundred of these starlings... so i realized i should stop...nowadays if im lucky i will see just one... : (
thanks! i do live in the US. the only thing i hate doing in the end is picking up all the dead starlings. i do realize there seems to be a lot more different variety of birds in my back yard now. now that there arent that many starlings...: )
We have had these horrid-non-native pests devastate nestfulls of Martin eggs and seen the results of them pecking baby Martins to death. Extermination is the best way to deal with them, or else as this documents, they threaten the Martin population.
This event prompted us to renovate all our housing with SREH entrances (Starling Resistance Entrance Holes). We also installed tunnel entrances and porches which lowered the entrance holes to the floor. Starlings are able to penetrate some SREHs, but not if they are low against a porch.
I've had this happen at my colony before. Sadly, I lost a female martin in the fight. I'm so sick of starlings. I trap, shoot, etc. Last year I put new starling resistant holes on my bird houses and it helped tremendously.
Starlings are absolutely the sickest, filthiest bird I've ever seen.
I must say, trapping is far more efficient than shooting. If starlings/house sparrows are dominating the nest site, you can set a trap and leave it for a while. However, you can only sit and wait with a gun for so long. And, I do prefer to kill the male house sparrow, since he calls in the females. I can't tell male from female starling, so I kill both. Just to be safe. : )
ongawesgone 2 weeks ago
Even though the starling didn't kill any of them, it was hard for me to watch, and I haven't since. I've built/maintained a bluebird trail for over 20 years, I know the devastation of these flying pestilence. Especially the house sparrows. I shoot when/where I can (.22), but mostly trap. Just bought three Van Erts and can't wait to "extinct" some house sparrows. I've heard they're on the decline. Not fast enough. I hope for extinction of starlings and house sparrows.
ongawesgone 2 weeks ago
If you're concerned about the decline of our native birds then stop destroying their habitats!
youadee 2 months ago
Go to the Cornell University website and read their study on Starlings and how native birds are faring just fine with them. Even Bluebirds are territorial and will attack each other during nesting. Don't make it seem like wild creatures do not fight. It's natural.
youadee 2 months ago
@youadee Baloney.
Starlilngs were introduced by idiot humans who longed for the native fauna from Europe.
The resulting destruction of native wildlife has resulted in dramatically declined numbers of many species and even a few extinctions.
Don't jabber on about what you have absolutely no clue, you tree hugger.
PinkOld 1 month ago
@PinkOld - Here's a quote from a Cornell University study on the effects of Starlings in the U.S., "With so many starlings around, this causes some concern about their effect on native bird populations. Nevertheless, a study in 2003 found few actual effects on populations of 27 native species. Only sapsuckers showed declines due to starlings; other species appeared to be holding their own against the invader."
youadee 1 month ago
@youadee Bullshit.
You're just a clueless tree hugger who has not personally seen what they do.
I have killed over a hundred starlings, and I intend to kill THOUSANDS, plus at least as many House sparrows more before it's all over.
Enjoy knowing that, punk.
PinkOld 1 month ago
@PinkOld Starlings are urban dwellers. They don't stray far from cities. They don't fly into the forests and take over wildlands. We kill lots of native species but you don't see us killing off humans lol. I'll jabber as much as I want to. This is my right to free speech, you idiot.
youadee 1 month ago
@youadee Tell me, is it also your right to suck the snot end of my fuckstick?
PinkOld 1 month ago
@youadee My farm is 10 miles from the nearest urban area, and I have problems with starlings.They are not just an urban problem anymore. Last year a pair took over one of my bluebird nestboxes; they killed the male bluebird and built their nest on top of him. I love nature and support different environmental organizations, but I know that starlings do not belong in the North American ecosystem. I don't find joy in killing anything, but I trap and shoot starlings for the sake of our native birds.
rtanner77 4 weeks ago
It was obviously not an invasion. As soon as it landed inside the nest it realized it was in trouble. You can tell it got nervous as it started open mouth breathing (panting) for birds. It was even gentle with the probing in the grass around the chicks and did not throw them out. It fought because the parents found it before it could leave. I can tell by the bird's behavior that it was not being intentionally ferocious. I have a pet Starling and I recognize their behavior.
youadee 2 months ago
@youadee Bunk
The starling was attempting to kill one or both Martins.
If it had wanted to escape, it would have done so well before and after the parents showed up.
PinkOld 1 month ago
@PinkOld If the Starling wanted to kill, it would've killed all the chicks before it left the nest.
youadee 1 month ago
@youadee I'm quite sure it would have done so had it not feared the return of the parents.
My folks put out Bluebird boxes many years ago, unaware that it is crucial that the entrance must not have a perch below it, and the starlings stood on that perch and pierced the eggs and killed any hatched chicks.
When the perches were removed, the chicks survived to adulthood.
Believe me when I say that starlings are very aggressive.
A mistake to judge them by human standards, but they are that.
PinkOld 1 month ago
This is why I shoot the damn STARLINGS!
thepowerfulnews 4 months ago
Comment removed
CaneFu 5 months ago
@UnwelcomeSuccess
You're the ignorant one. The starling was indeed curious about a nesting site and if had chosen this place it would have killed the babies and the parents and taken it over - this has been documented time and time again. Quit posting ignorance.
CaneFu 5 months ago
I use a high powered air rifle to kill starlings and sparrows and it has actually become an enjoyable hobby for me. Nothing like sighting in on a live target that really deserves it.
CaneFu 5 months ago
@CaneFu I'm sure terrorists think the same way you do.
youadee 1 month ago
@youadee
Starlings ARE the terrorists in the world of birds - did you even watch this video you fucking idiot?!? They are not native to our country but are an invasive species that were imported from Europe. Starlings almost drove our blue birds and other native species to extinction. Even the most adamant conservationist will tell you that starlings should be eliminated. Do some research before posting about something that you know absolutely about you moron. You have shit for brains
CaneFu 1 month ago
at first when it flys in there like yay mom!!! then they see its a starling and there like oh shit haha
MxCling721 7 months ago
You people are ignorant about birds. Do some reading. You do realize this starling was just curious about a potential nesting site. This is NOT a starling "attack". The starling was just curious (notice, it did NOT immediately start killing the baby birds). It was actually being attacked by the martin as an intruder, a natual defense for its nest. I'm guessing it would have just left if it could have. This is nature's way. Get over it.
UnwelcomeSuccess 10 months ago
Excellent video!!!! I have witnessed it from the outside but never seen what is happening in the gourd. Except when I had a starling throwing babies out one time. Starlings seem to fall to the ground with a hole in them when they come near my martins. I think my martins have home defense weapons or a protective landlord....
StarlingKiller 1 year ago
@StarlingKiller hehe
I shoot holes in the air, then the starling falls in that hole.
The hole leads all the way to the ground.
The starling falls in that hole, then dirt covers it up.
;)
PinkOld 1 month ago
What traps are you using? Starlings are most bad in my book because they take up nesting space for cavity nester's like woodpeckers.
biodot88 1 year ago
This is why I kill starlings and sparrows. Useless animals.....excellent targets!
starlinghunter 1 year ago
@starlinghunter I second that they are just like buglers breaking into a martins house.
StarlingKiller 1 year ago
@starlinghunter I agree. Starlings are just an evil bird and should have never been brought to the U.S.A.
StarlingKiller 1 year ago
@StarlingKiller It's a catch 22 situation....if they were never brought in, then our domestic birds would thrive better....on the other hand, if they were never brought in, we couldn't shoot at them improving our marksmanship.
starlinghunter 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
Oh sorry, i didn't know about the starlings issue... oh well i don't know, humans are responsible anyway
ShadowriverUB 1 year ago
@ShadowriverUB
So you're saying that humans have no right to correct for the mistakes of other humans?
Are you saying we have no right to protect our native birds from an invasive species?
Or are you just trying to make trollish remarks about humans meddling with mother nature in general?
ThInTrM 1 year ago 10
This has been flagged as spam show
@ThInTrM No? I'm just saying a pure fact and you acting impulsive
ShadowriverUB 1 year ago
@ShadowriverUB
"Just saying pure facts?" Be honest with yourself; you're just trying to mock people for preventing the extinction of native birds, laughing at them for wanting to preserve biodiversity.
ThInTrM 1 year ago 7
No, it's just creation of your hate or your desire to own me tries to put words in to my mouth.... just calm down, i understand a problem now and in sorry about my first post here and it won't change fact that is human stupidy fault in first place as i said.
ShadowriverUB 1 year ago
@ShadowriverUB Huh??
gwagner30 1 year ago
@gwagner30 huh, what?
ShadowriverUB 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
lol people so much hate for daily dangers of mother nature.. Come on, shot all Starlings and one day you will need to save them too.
ShadowriverUB 1 year ago
This video gives me even more fuel for the fire. Those starlings don't have a chance on my trail. Non-native, trash bullies.
blacklabradorlover1 1 year ago
They do that. Aggressive
PokemonVideosNow 1 year ago
flintstone...Grackles are native and it is illegal to shoot them. The grackle may prey on nestlings but that is natural. That is just like shooting a hawk for eating a smaller bird. Shoot the starlings and European house sparrows.
ssgrim86 2 years ago 3
I am amazed it didn't kill the babies. It must have been too beat up. Evidently the martins succeeded in saving their babies after all.
flintstone9812 2 years ago 2
I know from experience birds like this attack other birds to eliminate competition for food. The starling and the grackle (black with greenish-purple head) are the worst. They are strong and have that *&%# spear-like beak. I started shooting them with Sheridan air rifle. They got smart, stayed out of range. So I bought a 12 gauge shotgun. Killed several. This year not one came near my yard. They remember!!
flintstone9812 2 years ago
I shot 16 starlings today... going for more tomorrow. I hate these birds.
patryklucarz 2 years ago
have you sent this video to the pmca (purple martin conservation association) in edinboro, pa? you should.
casagrandecats 2 years ago
nobody should love starlings! they are not a protected species. they should all be eradicated. do your part and kill them.
casagrandecats 2 years ago
This is why it is important to destroy starlings any chance you get and they killed off all the purple martins that I had before I knew about this behavior. I purchased the "deluxe repeating sparrow trap" and I have rid all the house sparrows from my area and I am working on starlings this thing works great. Some people love starlings but they don't understand that without population control they will continue to destroy songbirds also starlings are 1 of 3 birds unprotected so kill them at will.
freddyfast9 2 years ago 3
i always get a 12 gauge and kill it ..
woody71692 2 years ago 2
As a would-have-been martin landlord --never got a colony-- but as a bluebird landlord, I'm very glad more people are becoming aware of the destructive nature of starlings/house sparrows. There are alot of people who will not listen to the warnings of allowing them to breed. I've lost bluebirds/tr. swallows to sparrows. They don't live long around me. Traps or rifle.
Monty
deemonty37 2 years ago
There are too many starlings in North America for a cull to be effective. It would be one thing just to "contain" them to urban areas like pigeons an house sparrows, but starlings flock and migrate, making that ineffective.
enricoI 2 years ago
Starlings are tough birds for BB guns. Scoped Sheridan pump pellet guns are very effective because they are accurate and lethal. Just verify the target before pulling the trigger
iflydplane 3 years ago
trying to add my purple martin video 2 but having trouble!
casagrandecats 3 years ago
oh my, thank you so much for telling me. we bought those a few years back and my martins would not use them, so my husband (duhhhhhhhhhh) made them round again!! fortunatey, we don't have too many starlings right here. I had sparrows for awhile at the beginning, by we got ride of those wit thhe bb gun. we have the most trouble with hawks!! and they are protected here. I have had a colony since l988. I will att my video I took today if I can.
casagrandecats 3 years ago
did he actually kill all the babies? did he eat te mother or just throw her out, I couldh't tell.l
casagrandecats 3 years ago
The good news is that after the adults escaped the nest, the starling left the nest 30min later and never returned. The adults returned to the nest and the babies were okay. This nest hatched and fledged normally and all was okay.
But all nests have starling resistant entrances now :)
sgillbee 3 years ago 3
@casagrandecats stralings don't eat birds in similar size
ShadowriverUB 1 year ago
did you get this sob?
casagrandecats 3 years ago
How sad the martins were in a death grip. Starling resistant units are now becoming more common across the country
should you see a colony with round holes drop a hit about
this video.
newwave1965 3 years ago 4
NOW I can see how I was correct in shooting all the starlings and sparrows that tried to invade our purple martin houses! I never realized what a menace they are to the purple martin young.
pwnage0013 3 years ago 5
You that say you shoot/trap starlings. How effective is the trapping vs shooting? How many birds are you able to eradicate?
bukaroo12 3 years ago
We live inside city limits so firearms are verboten. So we use a standard WalMart-issue air-rifle (BB gun). It works well for sparrows... not so well for starlings. Trapping works well for both. The nice thing about trapping is that it is unattended... you don't have to be watching.
All that said, these days we haven't had many problems with starlings are converting all our housing to starling-resistant entrances (SREHs). Now we just deal with sparrows and both ways work well for them.
sgillbee 3 years ago
@sgillbee Your air-rifle should be good enough for these small birds, just buy PELLETS. Not BBs. This should help with penetration on those starlings.
xxxcrosmanhunterxxx 7 months ago
@sgillbee Seriously, get rid of the BB gun and get yourself a decent PELLET gun, preferably a .22 caliber capable of lobbing pellets at 500fps minimum, or a .177 capable of launching them out at about 700fps minimum.
You will discover that air rifles of that type and power range are VERY effective against those nasty starlings.
I've killed well over a hundred with such armament, and they fall as if hit by a brick, especially if I let them have it with my .22 Gamo CFX.
Trust me.
PinkOld 1 month ago
if you are VERY patient, you can shoot a lot of them because purple martins never land to eat, so if you put some sweet corn or other types of grain in a pile on the ground below the house, you can shoot & kill many sparrows and starlings. we have done it a lot in the past.
MondoMedia7 3 years ago 5
last year i shot over 2 thousand starlings with my pcp...but this year i shot just over a hundred of these starlings... so i realized i should stop...nowadays if im lucky i will see just one... : (
dove559 3 years ago 3
If you're in the US keep shooting! Nice job! I wish I could take out 2000 of these invasive birds. Our native birds will thank you!
bukaroo12 3 years ago
thanks! i do live in the US. the only thing i hate doing in the end is picking up all the dead starlings. i do realize there seems to be a lot more different variety of birds in my back yard now. now that there arent that many starlings...: )
dove559 3 years ago
We have had these horrid-non-native pests devastate nestfulls of Martin eggs and seen the results of them pecking baby Martins to death. Extermination is the best way to deal with them, or else as this documents, they threaten the Martin population.
bisonwerks 3 years ago 3
Starlings are indeed rubbish, i trap and shoot actively. These birds are a menace here in the states.
acasanova27 3 years ago
just killed my first starling today. =)
Seif5034 3 years ago 2
Ugh! That is horrifying to watch! I hate starlings and house sparrows with a passion. They are both trash!
velocikat 4 years ago 3
The Starling had total control the entire time pretty sure both the parent martins were fighting and both were almost killed.
Please remove round holes and use Starling resistant homes
for martins!
newwave1965 4 years ago 2
This event prompted us to renovate all our housing with SREH entrances (Starling Resistance Entrance Holes). We also installed tunnel entrances and porches which lowered the entrance holes to the floor. Starlings are able to penetrate some SREHs, but not if they are low against a porch.
sgillbee 4 years ago
I am just happy it does not show any of the baby birds being killed that would have been a horror show. The poor parents
suffered the screams were so sad. American people need to see this!!!! Poor martins what people have done to them with
the release of the non native starling.
newwave1965 4 years ago 2
I've had this happen at my colony before. Sadly, I lost a female martin in the fight. I'm so sick of starlings. I trap, shoot, etc. Last year I put new starling resistant holes on my bird houses and it helped tremendously.
Starlings are absolutely the sickest, filthiest bird I've ever seen.
tike2006 4 years ago 2
Scarier than a monster movie! The babies were smart to lay perfectly still so as not to get attacked worse than they did.
marcomman 4 years ago
Starlings are trash, those birds must be wiped out.
acasanova27 4 years ago