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Delinquents of Birdland

By “Awake!” correspondent in the British Isles

THE European starling, with its iridescent glossy-black plumage, is an irrepressible bird. It is forever making noises, of many kinds. True, it will take to flight at the slightest alarm, but it soon bustles back again, strutting along jauntily to show its unconcern!

Many persons dislike these pugnacious birds, and not without reason. They have a habit of descending in flocks when poultry are being fed, and blithely stealing much of the food. Some persons claim that they are kept awake at night by their raucous cries. Starlings can also do a lot of damage to crops.

Some two million of them would fly in nightly to roost in a ten-acre larch plantation at Kinver, England. Before they were dispersed, they had killed 30,000 fifteen-year-old larch trees.

Berries, fruits, corn and other crops suffer from starling onslaughts. Lamented one farmer: “Keeping a million birds off a field is like trying to stop it from raining. I’ve spent $2,000 on guns and ammunition this year and all I’ve done is chase the birds to my neighbors’ fields.”

Starlings like city life, apparently enjoying the warmth from the big buildings. So in some places they commute every morning from huge community roosts in the heart of the city to nearby countryside areas. There they feed, but at night they return to sleep in their city dormitories.

In Washington, D.C., more than 10,000 birds have been known to roost in a single block, dirtying both buildings and people. As far back as 1929, officials at President Hoover’s inauguration were worrying about starlings along the parade route. For President Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961, the inaugural committee had the trees along the parade route sprayed with a substance supposedly highly unpleasant to starlings, spending $8,600 for this.

Interestingly, in 1890 there was not even one starling in the United States. That year a wealthy New Yorker decided to introduce Americans to every bird mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays, and so had sixty starlings from England released in Central Park. Now there are hundreds of millions, starlings having migrated from coast to coast. The first one in Vancouver was seen in 1946. By the late 1950’s they were invading Oregon holly groves by the thousands.

To protect crops and city buildings from these invasions, efforts of all sorts have been made to disperse starlings, nearly all unsuccessful. Authorities have tried fireworks, rubber snakes, gas-filled balloons, electrified wires, bags of smelly chemicals, rattles, wooden clappers, clashing cymbals, supersonic sounds, ultraviolet rays, searchlights, tranquilizers, and many others.

In Melbourne, Australia, the City Council installed a formidable dummy owl with flashing eyes on the ornamental facade of the Town Hall, a favorite roosting spot. With what effect? The starlings simply perched on it!

Though starlings are delinquents, authorities are hesitant to recommend trying to exterminate them. For starlings eat a great number of insects, such as Japanese beetles. It is figured that their value in controlling pests may far outweigh the nuisance that they can be.

Furthermore, millions of people like starlings. City people especially derive pleasure from watching their swift and spectacular flight, as they wheel and maneuver almost as one bird. Also, many persons listen with admiration to their numerous and varied noises and songs.

Starlings have truly an amazing talent for mimicry. It is said that they can imitate forty-four different birds! But besides that, they can imitate the bark of a dog and the meow of a cat. They have been taught to speak and to whistle tunes. Some persons catch starlings and keep them as pets, even as others keep parrots or parakeets. They can provide fascinating entertainment.

Although in some places starlings may be considered only delinquents, they do have their redeeming characteristics. Starlings are indeed remarkable birds.