Starlings ruining feeding birds

[Marb67]

I am all for helping all kinds of birds but my patience is wearing thin with starlings. They just gobble everything up so fast and at the same time, hang on small bottle feeders with a mixture of robin food, mealworms and other quite expensive food I have just put out, causing the food to go all over the floor. I only put the feeder out 10 mins ago and now it's wasted. They are a ruddy nuisance and I can't stop them. I bought a wire globe feeder for fat balls to stop them hammering those but for some reason the smaller birds won't feed from it anymore (they did the first time I put it out) despite it being clean.

They are just too heavy handed and messy and it's costing me money. I may as well tip everything on the floor as it all ends up there. I get grasses growing all over the garden.

[Bill HH]

There is little you can do about this, starlings are a fact of nature (but even they are on the decline). You could perhaps trying putting trays of food under bushes where robins and others might find it.

[Guest]

I used to have a dislike for starlings and they seem worse because they are in flocks, however they are in decline and need our help as much as any other bird we see in our gardens. The RSPB: Starling

[Marb67]

Well we get thousands of them murmurizing together every evening so plenty in Cheshire.

[Nicos]

Hi Marb!

They are quite large birds compared to robins etc...maybe you can offer the food in different ways which would exclude them??

Not quite sure, but there must be a way ????

[Nicos]

Actually - I've just goooogled 'starling proof bird feeders' on images, and there are clearly ways around your problem.

Have you been a good boy this year???..if so , ask Santa to bring you a couple of different types to try out!

[Thelma Sanders]

You only seem to see them all together when they're getting ready to move elsewhere.

We have a lot on the roofs, and in the garden, for a few weeks and then one day - they're gone.... off on their holidays to the seaside. They go on a clear morning at sunrise - one moment noisy and the next whoosh and they are gone

Yours may disappear soon as the cold nights have started again.

[Marb67]

No, they are here all year round.

[Bigmallly]

This was an interesting post:

"I've found that the seed mix feeds that have suet pellets in them attract the starlings and they go through it at a rate of knots rejecting the seeds which get scattered everywhere, in order to get at the suet - so I buy separate suet pellets and put them in easier to access 'lantern' shaped feeders which the starlings love, and I put seed mixes without suet in the other feeders - it seems to work - but our starlings have left as I said, I think they only come to these gardens because of the nesting sites - the rest of the year they're flocking on the marshes and water meadows.

They are beautiful birds, and very useful in the garden - when you see them prodding around in the lawn with their beaks, they're eating leather jackets!!!"

[dogsbody]

It's a case of horses for courses. Starlings descend here too (more in the winter due to eastern visitors) but they don't have everything their own way as the pigeons give them a run for their money! Also by varying the time I put out the table feeds gives others a sporting chance too. Plus if you have feeders with items in them that are not their favourites then others will benefit.

As a flock guestimate I have around 50+ starlings visiting here at present - almost matched by the flock of goldfinches!

[bearded bloke]

Oh come on Marb it really is time you turned at least some of your problems from negative into positive, while a few starlings might be causing you a minor problem at the moment, they could potentially earn you far more than the cost of a little bird feed, decent video's of murmerings will fetch good money from people/groups with this specialist interest, get yer camera out & get filming bud

[Nicos]

Oh yes! I'd love to see piccies!

[Philthy]

I think starlings are great. One of my favourite species in fact. They're beautiful birds. I like that they're not timid. They produce wonderful aerial displays. A line of them combing a lawn for grubs in summer is most welcome. I put a nest box up some time ago with a starling sized entrance hole; not sure if any starlings have used the box though.
They can decimate feeders given half a chance, true, but that process can be regulated easily enough with a little shopping around of feeders and thoughtful placement.
I found one of the best feeders for mealworms and seeds is the design where a container base is attached to a curved roof by a central rod, and the roof can be raised or lowered according to which birds you want to have access to the food. I hang this feeder off a bracket by the back door, and robins, nuthatches, small birds etc can land in the gap but not the bigger starling. But as I say I like starlings and will happily feed them too, just separately, usually with a little food scattered on the ground, or mealworms in a small dish on the patio. When its gone, its gone.
Biggest nuisance round here are pigeons and magpies. But no doubt they have their fans too. Somewhere.

[veggiechicken]

Haven't seen a starling (or a house sparrow) in this garden for years
Lots of finches, tits, blackbirds and thrushes to make up for their absence.

[jackarmy]

Yes but no .

Our resident starlings are in massive decline, the shoals you see now are scandanavian birds, they are quite different plumage wise, the Scandanavian having bigger and much greener spots.

I understand your thinking Marb but i long for the days when you could see a half dozen or so starlings in the garden, just doesnt happen in swansea anymore.
We had a huge roost of the scandanavians in a neighbours tree untill they cut it down last summer ( cant blame them tbh) but it was a sight to behold watching thousands of them parade in the sky, making sure there were no predators about before settling down for the night, i miss that sight immensely.