Hi Woko, Why are they seen as pest? And how do I discourage them to come? There are some ravens also hanging around the trees in the backyard. Any ideas on how to keep them away? Thank you.
The Common Starling is not an Australian native bird. It was first introduced into Victoria from Europe in the late 1850s & has spread over south eastern Australia since then.
It is regarded as a pest bird firstly because it competes strongly with native birds for tree hollows where many Australian birds nest. This leads to a decline in native bird populations.
Secondly, it feeds on the ground, especially after breeding, & consumes food that would otherwise be used by native birds such as the Australian Magpie & the Bassian Thrush.
Thirdly, it is regarded as a pest by the horticulture industry because it eats & damages their crops. In fact, there are or were patrols on the border between West Australia & South Australia which destroy Common Starlings which try to enter WA. I'm not sure how successful these patrols are.
Lastly, most people would be unaware that Common Starlings foul bird baths & other water points thus discouraging native birds from using water.
My own experience is that Common Starlings are discouraged by the planting of Australian vegetation that is indigenous to the areas being planted. This vegetation provides the ideal habitat for Australian birds so that they're given every chance of surviving & competing successfully with Common Starlings. I strongly suspect that Common Starlings are particularly discouraged by the presence of native raptors or birds of prey such as eagles, hawks & falcons. Below is a graph of Common Starling numbers over the 26 year period since Ms Woko & I have been revegetating our property.
I don't know about your circumstances, fongling, but living in an urban or suburban environment makes it difficult to provide sufficient habitat for native birds as most people aren't interested in doing this. However, promoting native vegetation in a neighbourhood or two or three might lead to an eventual reduction in Common Starling numbers. It certainly takes time.
As to the ravens in the trees in your backyard I'm interested to learn your reason or reasons for wanting to discourage them.
Was only thinking the other day that twenty odd years ago there seemed to be many more Starlings around than there are now.
Growing up in Adelaide suburbs there was a time that Starlings and House Sparrows were everywhere, with the Starlings being a constant problem with nesting in eaves etc.
Living just South of the city I now very rarely see either of these birds.
Main backyard species now include Noisy Mynahs, Magpies, Galahs, plus Rainbow & Musk Lorikeets when the backyard gum is flowering.
The main reason starlings are treated as pests is because they cause so much damage to fruit crops, especially vineyards. It is hard to understand how such a pest was introduced here. WA is free from starlings and they have a program in the nullarbor to stop them crossing over.
Out here where I live, (Gembrook east of Melbourne) I haven't seen any .I'm surrounded by vast native areas like the Bunyip State Park. Wowever, this is also potato growing country , mostly Italian families that have been around here for generations. The season when they plough their fields, huge flocks turn up to follow the traktors. So they must be around, unless they travel long distances , afterwards they leave the area again.
Hi Woko, thank you for your information, that enrich my knowledge of birds. I live in the country 55 km north of Melbourne, do have a small piece of land where native birds such as magpies, rosellas, cockatoos, wagtail, Gang Gang, gala, woodduck, straw-neck ibis, myna, magpie lark, spotted pardalote, Kookaburra, raven, crested pigeon and etc hanging around all the time. We put a bird bath under a gum tree, that attracts birds to drink water and taking bath. From the kitchen window, I can look straight to the bird bath, so when I cook/cleaning, I can be entertained by watching birds doing all sorts of activities. It is indeed a pleasur
AsAI particularly enjoy watching radiant and ruby rosella taking bath. They like bathing so much that my bird bath perhaps, is a swimming pool to them.
After reading your reply, I do notice that after common starling started to appear (about 6-8 months ago), wattle birds seem to be out of sight, and less sighting of magpie lark. I wonder if this has something to do with the common starling.
AsAI particularly enjoy watching radiant and ruby rosella taking bath. They like bathing so much that my bird bath perhaps, is a swimming pool to them.
This is very interesting fongling, I have many Rosellas in my garden, they come to have a drink, but I have never seen them having a bath. Do you have any photos of it? I have seen them having a bath in our water hole a few times, but not in the bird bath.
Yes. I have taken many photos of birds taking bath, including rosellas, magpies, myna...The way they take their bath reflects the characteristic of each species. Very interesting. I enclose here some photos that I shot seveal weeks ago. Hope you like them.
Here are photos of ruby rosella taking bath. This fellow enjoyed it so much that I thought he was going to do some back-stroke, if the bath was big enough. Cheers.
Hi fongling. If you're north of Melbourne you probably have a better chance of reducing Starling numbers than if you lived right in Melbourne. Revegetating your block with plant species indigenous to your area would begin this process. Who knows, your neighbours might decide to do the same which would be even more helpful to the native birds.
You mentioned the "myna" as one of the birds at your place. Is this the Noisy Miner, a native bird, or the Common Myna which, like the Starling, is an introduced pest of Biblical proportions?
Also, you mentioned, I think, that you can identify bird species by the way they bathe. This is a very good point. I think there are a number of bird species which have distinctive styles of bathing & drinking. Perhaps they all have. E.g., I've noticed that when Red-browed Finches use my large bird bath they reverse into it from the side & often face outwards while going about their ablutions; Adelaide Rosellas (&, I assume, Crimson Rosellas) floff their wings while immersed; and White-plumed Honeyeaters enter the water by diving from a branch above the bird bath.
You haven't mentioned your reason for wanting to discourage the ravens.
Hi, Yes. I am located north of Melbourne and our backyard is on an acre. There were several matured/old gum trees when we moved in, and underneath one of them, we placed a bird bath, thus attracts lots of birds to come for water and occasionally, a bath. In a very hot day, birds literally take queue to drink water. I guess the position of bird bath helps to encourage birds to come. They would usually stop at the tree branch above the bath, take a look to see no predators around, then proceed to a bath. Afterwards they would fly to a tree branch nearby to groom a little, then fly off. Some birds are extremely nervous, such as wattle birds, who would dip in the water for only split seconds, repeat the same motion several times, then fly off. Magpies, rosellas will take their own sweet time to enjoy the bath, thus giving me opportunities to take shots.
We have both Noisy Miner and Common Myna here.
As for ravens, it's the ugly noise they make that I don't like them. As I was brought up in city, ravens (or crows we call it) is perceived as a nuisance bird that scavenge rubbish and spread disease.
On other matter, I have noticed that sulphur-crested cockatoo raises its crest sometime. What does it mean? And, if the male has yellow crest, and females don't have?
You may well have both species of corellas up your way.
The Little Ravens are native and not generally regarded as pests to my knowledge, though their call may not be the most attractive to our ears and they will rummage through refuse. They do mob raptors and their not so little size may intimidate other birds and they might chase them off. They seem to like habitat with large trees and little groundcover, I'd say planting dense understorey vegetation may provide sanctuaries and habitat for smaller birds.
Ling you will find that common starlings will foul your birdbath really badly. They are filthy birds. I am fortunate not to get starlings where I am at the moment, but I did have problems with them when I lived down south. I discouraged them from using the birdbath whenever possible. Occasionally they would go swimming when I wasn't home so I would have to clean out the bath afterwards. I imagine that in fouling birdbaths they also spread disease. With regular discouragement they seem to stay away.
Hi Ling. Perhaps you associate the ravens' calls with their scavenging. If humans didn't throw away so much rubbish maybe their calls wouldn't seem so bad. What do you think?
“Ravens are the birds I'll miss most when I die. If only the darkness into which we must look were composed of the black light of their limber intelligence. If only we did not have to die at all. Instead, become ravens.” ― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum
Hi Night Parrot, thank you for posting this poem. It's interesting. I recall a painting "Anguish" in the NGV in Melbourne. Description of this painting is "In Anguish, a brave ewe stands defiantly over the limp body of her lamb. Blood from the lamb's mouth trickles on to the snow. The pair is encircled by a mass of menacing black crows. The situation appears hopeless, despite the bravery of the ewe." Painter: August Friedrich Schenck.
Hi, since this morning there is a Striated Thornbill flying literally upto the window pane of the kitchen, dining room...seems it wants to fly into the house. I have never seen a ST like this. Can anyone tell me what cause this behaviour.
Worth to mention is that my husband trim off a outer branch of a tree two days ago. The tree branch was just outside the kitchen and dining room area. I have checked the chopped branch and there was no bird's nest in it. So it is not that we accidentally destroy its habitat that cause this behaviour.
Yes I think Night Parrot is right, we often get White Plumed Honeyeaters and Little Wattlebirds hovering at our windows picking off spiders and other insects.
Common Starling
An extreme pest, fongling, & to be strongly discouraged if you want Australian birds in your neighborhood.
Hi Woko, Why are they seen as pest? And how do I discourage them to come? There are some ravens also hanging around the trees in the backyard. Any ideas on how to keep them away? Thank you.
Excellent questions, fongling.
The Common Starling is not an Australian native bird. It was first introduced into Victoria from Europe in the late 1850s & has spread over south eastern Australia since then.
It is regarded as a pest bird firstly because it competes strongly with native birds for tree hollows where many Australian birds nest. This leads to a decline in native bird populations.
Secondly, it feeds on the ground, especially after breeding, & consumes food that would otherwise be used by native birds such as the Australian Magpie & the Bassian Thrush.
Thirdly, it is regarded as a pest by the horticulture industry because it eats & damages their crops. In fact, there are or were patrols on the border between West Australia & South Australia which destroy Common Starlings which try to enter WA. I'm not sure how successful these patrols are.
Lastly, most people would be unaware that Common Starlings foul bird baths & other water points thus discouraging native birds from using water.
My own experience is that Common Starlings are discouraged by the planting of Australian vegetation that is indigenous to the areas being planted. This vegetation provides the ideal habitat for Australian birds so that they're given every chance of surviving & competing successfully with Common Starlings. I strongly suspect that Common Starlings are particularly discouraged by the presence of native raptors or birds of prey such as eagles, hawks & falcons. Below is a graph of Common Starling numbers over the 26 year period since Ms Woko & I have been revegetating our property.
I don't know about your circumstances, fongling, but living in an urban or suburban environment makes it difficult to provide sufficient habitat for native birds as most people aren't interested in doing this. However, promoting native vegetation in a neighbourhood or two or three might lead to an eventual reduction in Common Starling numbers. It certainly takes time.
As to the ravens in the trees in your backyard I'm interested to learn your reason or reasons for wanting to discourage them.
Interesting graph Woko.
Was only thinking the other day that twenty odd years ago there seemed to be many more Starlings around than there are now.
Growing up in Adelaide suburbs there was a time that Starlings and House Sparrows were everywhere, with the Starlings being a constant problem with nesting in eaves etc.
Living just South of the city I now very rarely see either of these birds.
Main backyard species now include Noisy Mynahs, Magpies, Galahs, plus Rainbow & Musk Lorikeets when the backyard gum is flowering.
Cheers
The main reason starlings are treated as pests is because they cause so much damage to fruit crops, especially vineyards. It is hard to understand how such a pest was introduced here. WA is free from starlings and they have a program in the nullarbor to stop them crossing over.
Out here where I live, (Gembrook east of Melbourne) I haven't seen any .I'm surrounded by vast native areas like the Bunyip State Park. Wowever, this is also potato growing country , mostly Italian families that have been around here for generations. The season when they plough their fields, huge flocks turn up to follow the traktors. So they must be around, unless they travel long distances , afterwards they leave the area again.
M-L
Hi Woko, thank you for your information, that enrich my knowledge of birds. I live in the country 55 km north of Melbourne, do have a small piece of land where native birds such as magpies, rosellas, cockatoos, wagtail, Gang Gang, gala, woodduck, straw-neck ibis, myna, magpie lark, spotted pardalote, Kookaburra, raven, crested pigeon and etc hanging around all the time. We put a bird bath under a gum tree, that attracts birds to drink water and taking bath. From the kitchen window, I can look straight to the bird bath, so when I cook/cleaning, I can be entertained by watching birds doing all sorts of activities. It is indeed a pleasur
AsAI particularly enjoy watching radiant and ruby rosella taking bath. They like bathing so much that my bird bath perhaps, is a swimming pool to them.
After reading your reply, I do notice that after common starling started to appear (about 6-8 months ago), wattle birds seem to be out of sight, and less sighting of magpie lark. I wonder if this has something to do with the common starling.
This is very interesting fongling, I have many Rosellas in my garden, they come to have a drink, but I have never seen them having a bath. Do you have any photos of it? I have seen them having a bath in our water hole a few times, but not in the bird bath.
Your garden sounds great
M-L
Hi Araminta,
Yes. I have taken many photos of birds taking bath, including rosellas, magpies, myna...The way they take their bath reflects the characteristic of each species. Very interesting. I enclose here some photos that I shot seveal weeks ago. Hope you like them.
Fong Ling
Hi Araminta,
Here are photos of magpies taking bath.
Fong Ling
Here are photos of ruby rosella taking bath. This fellow enjoyed it so much that I thought he was going to do some back-stroke, if the bath was big enough. Cheers.
Fong Ling
Those are great pictures Fong Ling .... thanks for sharing them
Thanks so much Fong Ling. The photos are just gorgeous
I
all of them, but most of all the Rosellas having a bath, I hope that one day they might do this at my place. Thanks for sharing the photos with us.
M-L
Hi fongling. If you're north of Melbourne you probably have a better chance of reducing Starling numbers than if you lived right in Melbourne. Revegetating your block with plant species indigenous to your area would begin this process. Who knows, your neighbours might decide to do the same which would be even more helpful to the native birds.
You mentioned the "myna" as one of the birds at your place. Is this the Noisy Miner, a native bird, or the Common Myna which, like the Starling, is an introduced pest of Biblical proportions?
Also, you mentioned, I think, that you can identify bird species by the way they bathe. This is a very good point. I think there are a number of bird species which have distinctive styles of bathing & drinking. Perhaps they all have. E.g., I've noticed that when Red-browed Finches use my large bird bath they reverse into it from the side & often face outwards while going about their ablutions; Adelaide Rosellas (&, I assume, Crimson Rosellas) floff their wings while immersed; and White-plumed Honeyeaters enter the water by diving from a branch above the bird bath.
You haven't mentioned your reason for wanting to discourage the ravens.
Hi, Yes. I am located north of Melbourne and our backyard is on an acre. There were several matured/old gum trees when we moved in, and underneath one of them, we placed a bird bath, thus attracts lots of birds to come for water and occasionally, a bath. In a very hot day, birds literally take queue to drink water. I guess the position of bird bath helps to encourage birds to come. They would usually stop at the tree branch above the bath, take a look to see no predators around, then proceed to a bath. Afterwards they would fly to a tree branch nearby to groom a little, then fly off. Some birds are extremely nervous, such as wattle birds, who would dip in the water for only split seconds, repeat the same motion several times, then fly off. Magpies, rosellas will take their own sweet time to enjoy the bath, thus giving me opportunities to take shots.
We have both Noisy Miner and Common Myna here.
As for ravens, it's the ugly noise they make that I don't like them. As I was brought up in city, ravens (or crows we call it) is perceived as a nuisance bird that scavenge rubbish and spread disease.
On other matter, I have noticed that sulphur-crested cockatoo raises its crest sometime. What does it mean? And, if the male has yellow crest, and females don't have?
Ling
The cockatoos without the yellow crest are likely corellas, Little or Long-billed.
Hi Zosterops,
Thank you for the info. Is both the male and female Sulphur-crested cockatoo have yellow crest?
Ling
I believe that is correct.
You may well have both species of corellas up your way.
The Little Ravens are native and not generally regarded as pests to my knowledge, though their call may not be the most attractive to our ears and they will rummage through refuse. They do mob raptors and their not so little size may intimidate other birds and they might chase them off. They seem to like habitat with large trees and little groundcover, I'd say planting dense understorey vegetation may provide sanctuaries and habitat for smaller birds.
Ling you will find that common starlings will foul your birdbath really badly. They are filthy birds. I am fortunate not to get starlings where I am at the moment, but I did have problems with them when I lived down south. I discouraged them from using the birdbath whenever possible. Occasionally they would go swimming when I wasn't home so I would have to clean out the bath afterwards. I imagine that in fouling birdbaths they also spread disease. With regular discouragement they seem to stay away.
Hi Night Parrot,
Thank you for the tips. Cheers.
Ling
Hi Ling. Perhaps you associate the ravens' calls with their scavenging. If humans didn't throw away so much rubbish maybe their calls wouldn't seem so bad. What do you think?
“Ravens are the birds I'll miss most when I die. If only the darkness into which we must look were composed of the black light of their limber intelligence. If only we did not have to die at all. Instead, become ravens.”
― Louise Erdrich, The Painted Drum
Hi Night Parrot, thank you for posting this poem. It's interesting. I recall a painting "Anguish" in the NGV in Melbourne. Description of this painting is "In Anguish, a brave ewe stands defiantly over the limp body of her lamb. Blood from the lamb's mouth trickles on to the snow. The pair is encircled by a mass of menacing black crows. The situation appears hopeless, despite the bravery of the ewe." Painter: August Friedrich Schenck.
Hi, since this morning there is a Striated Thornbill flying literally upto the window pane of the kitchen, dining room...seems it wants to fly into the house. I have never seen a ST like this. Can anyone tell me what cause this behaviour.
Worth to mention is that my husband trim off a outer branch of a tree two days ago. The tree branch was just outside the kitchen and dining room area. I have checked the chopped branch and there was no bird's nest in it. So it is not that we accidentally destroy its habitat that cause this behaviour.
Ling
Is it picking off spiders around the window ledges? When birds fly around windows, rather than INTO them, it is usually to catch spiders.
Yes I think Night Parrot is right, we often get White Plumed Honeyeaters and Little Wattlebirds hovering at our windows picking off spiders and other insects.
it could be trying to 'fight' its reflection, it is the breeding season
Yes of course. Another possibility.