European starlings in New York, USA

This video from New York state in the USA says about itself:

European Starlings Form Circles Around Seed Characters On Cornell Feeders – Mar 2, 2018

During a snowy day in Ithaca, NY, the seed characters on the Cornell Lab FeederWatch cam are the preferred choice for hungry European Starlings.

Watch LIVE at http://AllAboutBirds.org/CornellFeeders for news, updates, and more information about the pond and its surroundings.

11 thoughts on “European starlings in New York, USA”

I grew up on a fruit orchard in Penticton B.C. Summer began when Starlings arrived to feast on cherries. I could watch them all day, my father lost his mind. First came bird guns, not so much a gun as blasts meant to startle beaked invaders. After a few days I barely noticed the sound, apparently the birds adjusted quite nicely. My father tried to outwit them, instructing workers to start picking fruit before dawn. Starlings didn’t seem to mind, there was plenty of fruit to go around. One afternoon I stumbled upon an act of desperation, a spectacle so monstrous it haunts me to this day. My father had built a Starling gas chamber. Wood frame roughly 12 x 12 feet encased in clear plastic with a hinged opening on top. Starlings dropped in for cherry bait, but couldn’t fly out.Before dinner Dad closed the roof hatch, ran a hose from exhaust pipe of his Jeep to a slot in plastic wall and sealed it with a rubber band.Can’t say how long it took but know for certain his methods were lethal.To this day starling feathers glint in summer sun.I see carnage but never witnessed how or where he piled their bodies.I forgave him long ago. He was a good man faced with economic collapse, We’ve never talked about it, but to this day a flock of Starlings makes my heart soar.

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petrel41 on March 3, 2018 at 1:05 pm said:

Thanks for your comment. I hope things like that will never happen again. In a garden of relatives of mine long ago, there was one cherry tree (no economic dependency). When that attracted a blackbird, that beautiful bird was killed. Very sad.

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- Notes To Ponder on March 3, 2018 at 1:13 pm said:
  
  That was a very long time ago. Today I take heart in knowing red wing blackbirds nest in bulrushes and a murmuration of starlings takes my breath away.
  
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  - petrel41 on March 3, 2018 at 1:16 pm said:
    
    There are starling murmuration videos on my blog. Eg, here
    
    Big starling murmuration videos
    
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    - Notes To Ponder on March 3, 2018 at 1:18 pm said:
      
      Breathtaking.:)
      
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      - petrel41 on March 3, 2018 at 1:59 pm said:
        
        Thank you!
        
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