I had to share my exciting news on my starling trapping
regimen.
Today I caught 13 starlings. 1 in a nest box trap, 1
in a single catch trap, and 11 in my funnel trap. The funnel trap is
amazing. The starlings walk right in. My grand total for the year
is 79 starlings.
The flickers are quite happy, eating suet and not being
bothered by the starlings. I really think they will have a chance at
successful nesting in my yard this year. A female is still spending time
in her box almost daily. The starlings have not chased her away. But now
I see why our woodpeckers have such a difficult time competing with
starlings. A pair of woodpeckers might be able to keep one starling at
bay, but when the starling population is so great, they don’t have much of a
chance.
This from the Cornell site: http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/northern_flicker/lifehistory
Northern Flickers are widespread and common, but numbers
decreased by almost 1.5 percent per year between 1966 and 2010, resulting in a
cumulative decline of 46 percent, according to the North American Breeding Bird
Survey.
See more information about trapping starlings at http://www.kansasnativeplants.com/yard_birds_europeanstarling.php
(scroll to the bottom to see the amazing funnel trap)
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