Starlings

Starling numbers are declining steeply and British Trust for Ornithology surveys show that numbers in Britain have fallen by about 66% since the 1970s. This is largely due to the changing agricultural landscape with less permanent pasture and mixed farming reducing the supply of earthworms and leatherjackets on which the Starling feeds. Their wonderful arial acrobatics as they gather over towns, woods and reedbeds to roost at night are a joy to watch. However, their sheer numbers (when they are joined by winter flocks from the continent) can cause problems underneath their town roosts where their droppings cause slip hazard and corrosion. Starlings are protected birds, so the only solution is to try to move them on to less sensitive roosts. This is generally done using tape recorded starling alarm calls.

Best Methods for Controlling your Pest

Starlings are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which makes it illegal to intentionally kill, injure or take a starling, or to take, damage or destroy an active nest or its contents.

Long term monitoring by the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) shows that starling numbers have fallen by 66% in Britain since the mid-1970s. Because of this decline in numbers, the starling is red listed as a bird of high conservation concern.

Starling population control is illegal and any effort to reduce inconvenience should be limited to disuading the birds from using specific roosts than have a direct impact on human health and safety.