starlings

12 Jan '06 7:52 am

Smiley and I lived with our family on our dairy farm near Hamilton, NZ, for 30 years, milking dairy Shorthorns on our 100 acres- small by today`s standards.
Grass grubs, that chew the roots of the pasture, and crickets, infest the area in late summer.
Smiley made some bird boxes for starlings (smallish entrances so that the unpleasant minahs couldn`t get in) As they became'tenanted' he made more, and lost count at about 50.The starlings passed the word around, and their sons and their daughters, friends and assorted relations converged on our farm, with flocks of thousands wheeling around in the early evening, with high-pitched chattering.The overflow made their untidy straw nests in the rafters above the car,in bits of farm machinery,and in the tractor engine-some near-dire consequences there!They feasted on the grubs and beetles of our rye and clover pasture
Our land stayed productive. Our neighbouring properties had huge tell-tale brown,dead patches It was very noticeable.
Let`s look after our birds.
Dixie.

13 Jan '06 11:05 am

Fascinating story, Dixie. And welcome to the forum, by the way! Good to have you on board.

Sounds like you have quite the starling population there! I don't know much about starlings, are they particularly good at anything, eg eating something nasty?

I love the photo of your cat protection - hilarious!

starlings

starlings

Looking after the birds