Re: Starlings
Frightening <br />Frightening is effective in dispersing starlings from roosts, small-scale fruit crops, and some other troublesome situations. It is useful around livestock operations that have warm climates year-round, and where major concentrations of wintering starlings exist. In the mid to northern states, starlings concentrate at livestock facilities primarily during cold winter months when snow covers natural food sources. <br /><br />Frightening devices include recorded distress or alarm calls, gas-operated exploders, battery-operated alarms, pyrotechnics (e.g. shellcrackers, bird bombs), lights (for roosting sites at night), bright objects, and other noise makers. Beating on tin sheets or barrels with clubs also scares birds. Some novel visual frightening devices with potential effectiveness are eye-spot balloons, hawk kites, and mylar reflective tape. Ultrasonic (high frequency, above 20 kHz) sounds do not frighten starlings and most other birds because, like humans, they do not hear these sounds. <br /><br />Harassing birds, throughout the evening as they land, can be effective in dispersing bird roosts if done for three to four consecutive evenings or until birds no longer return. Spraying birds with water from a hose or from sprinklers mounted in the roost trees has helped in some situations. A combination of several scare techniques used together works better than a single technique used alone. Varying the location, intensity, and types of scare devices improves their effectiveness. <br /><br />Two additional tips for successful frightening efforts: 1 ) begin early before birds form a strong attachment to the site and 2) be persistent until the problem is solved. <br />. . . <br />Trapping <br /><br />The wide-ranging movements of starlings, the time necessary to maintain and manage traps, and the number of starlings that can be captured compared to the total number in an area, often make trapping an impractical control method. ... <br /><br />Shooting <br /><br />Shooting is more effective as a dispersal technique than as a way to reduce starling numbers. The number of starlings that can be killed by shooting is small in relation to the numbers of starlings usually involved in pest situations. ...
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