Ever hold a starling?

[Caroluna]

After visiting the Holding a Hummingbird thread, this is going from the sublime to the ridiculous.






The neighbor found him slow-roasting in the parking lot where she works. He's about 12 days old in this picture, and can't walk yet.




much further along




"Yes, Mama, I'll keep him AWAY from my eyes."





Turning Kevin's old sandbox into an outdoor flight cage.

Here in Maryland it's legal to keep starlings without a permit, because they aren't native birds. But-- it's not something to do without taking a lot of thought first. If they're tamed they won't be able to survive in the wild, and they can live for 15 yrs or more. There is a website all about the particulars of keeping starlings in captivity-- the dos and don'ts. There's lots of don'ts.

starling website
http://www.starlingtalk.com/index.htm

Starlings have been kept as pets since Roman times and are mentioned in Shakespeare-- because of their excellent mimicry. Mozart had one who whistled the theme of one of his musical compositions.

Konrad Lorenz (animal behaviorist ) had a pet starling and called them "the poor man's dog".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konrad_Lorenz

Here's one playing fetch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4qxZDTt ... re=related

Their mimicry can be very entertaining
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S4QLiqeAQM

but sometimes it can go horribly wrong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IDriW76zmxs

Yes there's too many of them
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XH-groCeKbE
...about 600 million worldwide. Here in the US they're an unwelcome invasive species and cause problems by taking the nest sites of native birds, stealing crops, gathering in huge flocks and then dumping their droppings. But they are successful because they are curious, intelligent, gregarious, aggressive and pushy. Sturnus vulgaris sounds a lot like the species Homo sapiens I've been teaching mine to say "I'm an invasive species"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXVjPVsBTSY
and when I repeat it to him I realize it's true for me, too

I'm also playing pennywhistle for him and hoping he'll learn some of that. But chances are he'll pick up one of our other frequently repeated phrases that we say in his presence-- "Please don't poop on my head"


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starling

[dwest]

They do eat japanese beetle grubs and are very tasty grilled with lean canadian bacon.

[chrisoff]

No, but I've shot them.














*not really but my old cat ate a few*

[Jack]

OMG. I love starlings! They're so stupid and yet intelligent at the same time.

One of my neighbors has a pet starling that turned out to be a grackle. Some years ago she found a starling and the rehab places she called wouldn't take starling because they're a pest species, so she found information to raise it herself.

Lo and behold, the baby starling was actually a grackle. This wasn't apparent until it grew up and turned purplish. And now she has a pet grackle who is bonded to her (which is illegal, but there's nothing they can do about it). Its name was "the Starling," but barring that she calls it Skyrat.

[dwest]

OMG. I love starlings! They're so stupid and yet intelligent at the same time.

One of my neighbors has a pet starling that turned out to be a grackle. Some years ago she found a starling and the rehab places she called wouldn't take starling because they're a pest species, so she found information to raise it herself.

Lo and behold, the baby starling was actually a grackle. This wasn't apparent until it grew up and turned purplish. And now she has a pet grackle who is bonded to her (which is illegal, but there's nothing they can do about it). Its name was "the Starling," but barring that she calls it Skyrat.

Give me her address, agents are on the way

[Doug_Tipple]

My wife has been asking me the identity of the medium-size gray bird that has been a visitor at our feeders and bird bath. "It looks like an immature starling to me, dear," I replied. I got out one of my bird books, and, sure enough, I was right. I saw something kind of humous this morning when a mature and an immature starling were both in the bird bath at the same time. The older bird knew his established rountine: drink first and then bathe. The younger bird was walking around in the water as if he wasn't sure what to do. He watched the adult bird and finally began to flap his wings in the water. Gee, this is a lot of fun is how I interpreted his actions. Finally, the older bird motioned (bill attack) the youngster to go away and give him some peace and solitude.

[Martin Milner]

I regard starlings as being like rats, and grey squirrels in London.

You may not like them because they're invasive species, but you have to admire their work ethic.

[BillChin]

Mozart had one who whistled the theme of one of his musical compositions.

I'm trying to imagine a little bird whistling, Eine Kleine Nachtmusik ("A Little Night Music").

[s1m0n]

They're fairly close relatives of Myna Birds, which are also domesticated. Here in Vancouver there's a tiny (and shrinking) flock of Mynas, the descendants of escaped birds kept by Chinese immigrants.

They *were* well on their way to becoming another introduced species, but ironically once starlings arrived here from the east, their greater aggression enabled them to out-compte for nesting sites, and the Myna population began shrinking again.

[Jack]

I'm surprised that Mynas live that far north.

[s1m0n]

I'm surprised that Mynas live that far north.

This is the warmest part of Canada; palms, fig trees & bamboo all thrive here.

[herbivore12]

They're fairly close relatives of Myna Birds, which are also domesticated. Here in Vancouver there's a tiny (and shrinking) flock of Mynas, the descendants of escaped birds kept by Chinese immigrants.

Are there any mynas left in Vancouver? The Cornell ornithology website and articles on the web record the last one as having disappeared in 2003. I saw one when I visited in the late '90s -- I used to spend one week out of every six in Vancouver, and grew to love that city and its surrounds -- but never saw another afterwards. I can't find any record of a sighting since 2003, but I'd be secretly happy to learn they're still around, even if they're an alien species (just as I like seeing the parrots flying around here in San Francisco).

Handsome birds, any rate.

[Jack]

I'm surprised that Mynas live that far north.

This is the warmest part of Canada; palms, fig trees & bamboo all thrive here.

I know that (I have a friend who lives in northern Washington). I just didn't think they lived so far north, is all.

[dwest]

Birds are very adaptable even little Rufus hummers breed in Alaska.

[s1m0n]

Are there any mynas left in Vancouver?

I don't know. Last I heard was there were a few birds nesting near Fourth and Main, but that was during the 90s.