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.

How to Prevent Entry

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.

Starling control is limited to disuading the birds from roosting in specific locations that may have a direct impact on human health and safety.

The best way of achieving this is to use a bird distress caller which imitates the sound of a bird (in this case a starling) in distress. The flock then think one of their number has been caught by a predator and they make a rapid exit before they befall the same fate.