I DONT BELEIVE IT

We used to get a lot of Starlings in the last garden but this one has none :-)))
Yes, they pinch everything don't they ? :-(

Here we get loads of Blackbirds and House Sparrows mainly.

GREAT pics Clarice and NO surprise to me.....if I dare to put out any fat-balls or what ever - the starling flocks from miles around descend on them...and don't you believe it - they can cling OK !!!
During the winter it is a mad race to keep everybody fed...sometimes I am out three or four times a day....and I feed in the back and front gardens!!

There a menace in my garden, like you say Alz the other birds have a really bad time trying to feed when these are around. Louise do get quite a few sparrows and blackbirds, coaltits, and finches got a robin coming now aswell, not been able to get a photo of him yet.

Hi Marguerite - some people consider them a menace but personally when you see the big flocks gathering before roosting - it is a wondrous sight.
Little flocks do come around here on the east coast of the UK especially - and they usually come here for the winter to get away from the harsh winters in Europe. Farmers have changed things and no longer leave the fields fallow - so the birds come into the towns more and more these days.
They are a noisy and messy lot - but are so cheeky - you can't help but admire them...well I do anyway!!! I just have to find ways of keeping the smaller birds happy too!!!

Bullies but beautiful to look at with it.

I have taken to only filling the fat ball feeder with 4 balls every few days as oppose to every day last year - too expensive and other nuts etc get ignored until the fat balls are gone. So, now I wait until the nuts have nearly all gone and just try and fill the seed feeders daiily.

Great pics tho C:0)

Your right they are bullies in the garden but there display is brilliant to watch, your right about the fatballs they go through them so quick cant keep up with them.

Good thinking OB....I just try to remember to pop out last thing before it gets dark and fill everything up - so that the early risers get a look in before the mob arrives!!
I do resent the peanuts being left until they get damp though and find this happens more in the winter as they want the fatty things first ....I guess it is like getting a cooked breakfast at a McDonalds to them with the fat balls as versus an organic peanut-muesli !!!

I find they leave the peanuts but the crushed peanuts they go mad for them, as much as the fatballs

Funnily enough I have never bought them as such ....but do crush the peanuts during the breeding season as I don't like the idea of the fledglings choking on the whole nuts.

At the moment i've got both out and the starlings dont touch the whole ones, but yes i only put the crushed ones out in breading times.

Poor starlings do get such a bad press, but like Alzheimer, I love to see their flying displays and also appreciate that they are very clever birds. I know it is annoying to see the speed with which they wolf everything down, but after all birds don't exist just for us do they? Same with squirrels, they eat everything too and people stop liking them. My hubby has a huge appetite too ... uummm..... its giving me ideas!!

I have just been out to fill my feeders the robin was waiting for the mealworms he loves them.I also buy a robin mix and a honey mix I get the seed in small bags at the pet shop, it can be expensive as I am on a low income but I manage to buy about £5,worth a fortnight as I just love to see them at the feeders.

LOL Mad :o)))

Hi Clarice...
Have you tried the globe shaped squirrel-proof feeders like those on my recent photo ?
You can put peanuts, fatballs or smaller seeds in those...
All the little birds can get in to feed....
sparrows, blue tits etc...
.... even the baby starlings can squeeze in during the summer ...
BUT the adult chubby starlings cannot get in..LOL.

Lol Mad ! I love it when they descend on the en masse lawn and winkle out the leather jackets. I don't think all the paving and decking has helped,they have less places to forage.

I have one that you can put seed in and these starlings just keep manovering thereselfs till evenually they get in them, so canceled that out as the little ones could'nt get in when they are in them, some days there are as many as 30-40 of them alover the lawn, i dont mind them being here, i sometimes like to moan about, then i think well they need feeding just as much as the others, think its when i put a treat out and the other birds stand no chance of getting just a bit of it.

It's just unfortunate they like being in a flock,imagine a flock of robins :))

That would be something :o)) I was told once that our starlings move farther south for winter and the ones we have now are Russian ones overwintering here as its alot warmer here for them.

Maybe a little bit more bolshi then lol !

LOL :o))) Aster

I miss feeding the birds that used to visit my Essex garden! We don't see many Starlings here, but the birds that ARE around (Blackcaps, Great Tits, White Wagtails, Redstarts, Black Redstarts, Wrens, Robins, Goldfinches, Greenfinches) are dab-hands at keeping themselves and their families well fed. I don't put out feed here for just that reason - I think they know better then I where to find their favourite foods and also the feral cats would soon discover the brand new restaurant - Mc-Birds!

Wish i had so many different birds in my garden.

Quite true Nariz, I think the sparrow hawk here regards our bird tables as a 'dive in' lol

Your starlings certainly are greedy little things Carol. lol

Hywel your not kidding, best bit is there are quite a few folks that feed the birds round here aswell and they are thinking of packing it in as there fed up with them all.

Can understand how you feel Carol I have the same problem with Pigeons fifteen of them sit in the tree waiting for me to put the food out , they can't feed from the feeders but shake them so that all the nuts and seed fall out even lift the feeders off the brackets, so frustrating as often the little birds get nothing.

Are there a lot of corn seeds in the mix PP ? I had the same problem with pigeons till I changed mix. Only get the odd one now just looking to see what I've put out.

Carole i've heard that if there is corn in the seed you get pigeons.

Not sure Aster will look, but seems they like everything including the nuts and suet balls too.
If thats the case Carol will have to change the seed, Thanks to you both,

Talking of hawks....just put a photo on My pics... of a hawk having breakfast on the lawn!!! They usually sit up on a branch of the big fir tree - plucking a greenfinch or blue-tit and glaring at me - but he must have been extra hungry that day!!!

They do seem to take all the food dont they......great bird feeders you have.....

Hello Mrs Meldrew .. well I cant believe youre buying fat balls ..I remember that recipe you did for making your own and we put out a dish with oats and pellets set in lard as you suggested ..

We dont hang fat balls but let the starlings attack the dish not forgetting to bring it in each evening as to avoid attracting rats ..

Yes PP thats right about pigeons and corn we use cheaper stuff on ground for them and collared doves and the good stuff on bird table and feeders..so like Alz says might as well accomodate them they all seem to rub along when they get what they want ...mm sadly even the hawks ..must go see

I have no problem with th starlings, even if they are a bit bullying towards the other, smaller birds and they go for the full nuts as well down here but they're Welsh so expect them to be a bit 'arder!!!

Their coats are stunning as well:0)

im the same carol the starlings cling and get what they want or shake feeders till it all spills out, no stopping them :o(

All need to eat. I love them all.

It's crows that cause us most 'problems' in our garden...not that I mind them...they are incredibly smart & you can almost tell what they are thinking as they eye up the food from high in a tree! Trouble is they took the whole feeder plus the food until we tied them down & even then they ripped them apart. They stop the littler birds having a munch tho' so we've started putting big hunks of stale bread etc on the shed roof & they seem happy to dine from there!

Your starlings are little rascals Carol...bless 'em...they can empty a feeder in a flash! I get some of my bird food from Lidls...they do a hanging collection of peanuts & fatballs in nets which is ideal for my Mum to watch them devour!

Those naughty starlings just love your food Clarice :-)

I have magpies and jackdaws Fluff and do the same as you put the bigger scraps out for them I also have a tray on the ground for the blackbirds and the birds will also eat the cats food if ginge has left any.

I have a mob of starling visiting each day too and, yes, they definitely are 'cling ons'. They get through those square fat 'balls' in a day (home made) so now I only put them out once or twice a week. I love to watch their antics :)

BB i still do the fat cakes aswell as putting fatballs up, as the sparrows like the balls aswell, Gee they are a noisence sometimes but i do have to laugh at them sometimes.

Well glad to hear that Clarice ..was thinking you had posh starlings in Lancashire when ours being fed on scraps .

Could be worse do you remember millions of them invading Rome ?

It was on the news a while back the whole city covered in bird pooh ...

Clarice, when you say the ones we get now are from Russia, might they be from..........STARLINGRAD!!!! :0))))))

BB i can remember it well,OB you never know:o)))LOL.

Starlings behave like that in my garden too. The worst thing is they drive the goldfinches and bluetits away. :o(

Sandra x

Must remember that one OB....like it!!!!
Hi Labd.....it is the crow crowd that drive my finches and bluetits away and rob their nests - they are as bad as the cats - every bit....grrrr