The bird in her photo is definitely a European Starling, and Starlings commonly travel in large, noisy flocks, however it is very easy to confuse European Starlings with Grackles because both species exhibit the same noisy flocking habits and aggressive natures. To make identification even more difficult European Starlings & Grackles often flock together and in some instances they even nest in large group settings. Both European Starlings and Common Grackles are problematic to people because they will often exploit small openings the siding, soffits and fascia of our structures to nest in attics or wall cavities. When I was kid I lived on a dairy farm and our old farmhouse had redwood plank siding. One season so many grackles and starlings got into the siding that our entire house was infested with bird lice. To clear the mess we had to strip the siding off the house, clean all the straw, twigs and other nesting materials out of the wall cavities and the entire house had to be fumigated to kill the lice. I have often seen flocks of Starlings and Grackles land on a freshly planted field and the flock would cover an entire acre or more. STARLINKA- I am flattered that you would like my photo for wallpaper. Feel free to use any photo I post for that purpose. The only thing I ask is that people do not use my photos for commercial purposes. I post them free and I would expect others to share them for the same price, In fact, if you or any of the others would like a specific species for wallpaper please feel free to send me an email and i will see if I have something you might like. Thank you,

I use tube feeders hanging from a double shepherd's-crook. On the ground around the pole, I have wall about 8 inches high and about 7 feet in diameter to contain the fallen seed. (The squirrels and ground-feeding birds tend to swish it around.) When grackles and starlings show up, I put a cover over the "seed circle" (which I made in two semi-circular pieces) for a week or two. The best material for this cover is 1/4-inch wire mesh (called 'hardware cloth'). It must fit snugly so that small birds don't sneak in and get trapped. Click on the picture below for a photo gallery with details: Back Feeders Usually, grackles and starlings find it awkward to use the tube feeders. (The shorter the pegs, the better.) But if there are a few that have learned how, I find that a "sparrow spooker" will also deter the grackles and starlings. I make my spookers with stiff wire (rather than string or fish line) hanging vertically around the tube feeders, because the string can tangle, and may even snag a bird. Birds with larger wingspans don't fit between these vertical wires. And house sparrows feel trapped if they can't exit the feeders in any direction; that's how I think they are deterred.

I ended up removing the suet feeder today as the sparrows figured out how to get enough of a foothold to eat from it. I guess upside down feeders just don't work here either. Its rather frustrating to look out into your yard to see all your nice feeders completely covered in house sparrows. So much so that I've almost quit feeding birds altogether a few times. I really do wish the neighbors would just quit feeding and putting out nestboxes for them. Woodpecker-feeders.com has one that they swear is starling resistant. Ive emailed the site owner and inquired if it is sparrow resistant as well, and I'm curious to hear what he says.

Thankfully I've seldom had to deal with grackles and starlings, but when they have appeared, chasing them off with a Viking yell and a broom eventually seemed to drive them away permanently, as well as entertaining my neighbors. Of course it probably helped that I never ground feed, had no platform or other feeders they could access, and the vast majority of spilled seed was Nyjer, which they can't eat. So - slim pickin's, combined with crazy broom-wielding lady = starling-grackle-elimination-success! Taking it a step further, when I eliminated all mixes and went to feeding one kind of seed per feeder (sunflower seeds in one, nyjer in the other), many other pests stopped coming by. Apparently millet is much-beloved of several pesky species. Finally, switching to clingers-only feeders eliminated the mob of English house sparrows that had taken over my yard last year, driving off ALL the other birds, including the hummers. This year I may see one or two HOSPs going after spilled seed but they never stay long. The hummers have never returned, though.