I once drove off starlings by clapping 2x4's together. Sounded like a rifle shot. They returned a couple times but after 3 or 4 encounters, found another hangout. Persistence is the trick.

"What kind of despicable mind would conjur up an idea like clapping boards together to rid themselves of nature's beautiful companions? Do you you grunt while jumping up and down when you are happy too?

... so uncouth..

I do not believe this is the answer tindersawtelle was hoping for.

Personally, I feed all species of birds and animals taking residence in my single acre, forested sanctuary, so i cannot answer your question directly.

However, I do suggest "googling" the Starling to find information relevant to the nesting, migration and food preferences of the bird. Also, seek the advice of experts in the field of Orinthology. Helpful sources are plentiful on the Internet and should provide a myriad of options for you.

If that doesn't work, tell the Starlings they are welcome to move over to my place. Lol, I will be more than happy to care for them.

Unless, of course you would prefer to imitate the sound of a shotgun and scare the little sweethearts away!

I found, along time ago, that suet is a strong attractant to starlings. As long as I do not put out suet, I do not have a starling problem. When I try it...Here they come!

Good grief, Larry! Starlings are God's creatures, but so are rattlesnakes. I, too, find starlings a big nuisance. If the clappers work, use them, for crying out loud!.

Agreed with Larry and all who try to rid their feeders of these pests. Some of us should read up on the damage starlings, in particular, do to the native woodpecker population.

I must have a despicable mind because I relish killing every starling I can. These birds along with English sparrows are not native to the US and are NOT PROTECTED BY LAW. They are here in the billions and are detrimental to our native birds. After 28 years of caring for purple martins, bluebirds, etc. I have learned how destructive and terrorist like they are. They will go into a nest box and kill the mother and babies, then proceed to build a new nest over top of them. I have personally witnessed this behavior. The only remedy that works is to kill them! Otherwise they will continue their nasty deeds. Some people are totally uninformed on this issue and need to get the facts. Pellet guns are a great tool and I hope more people who wish to help our native songbirds will take up ridding our environment of these pests.

Hi mwein

I can attest to this terrorist-type killing behavior of Eurasian sparrows - a few years ago they killed a whole family of chickadees - the parents and four babies - because the dees were nesting in a box that the sparrows wanted to use. I had installed nest boxes for the dees and wrens with the smallest hole size recommended for them. But one Fall the downy woodpeckers decided to roost in them and enlarged the holes for their needs. The following spring the dees nested in them as usual but didn't stand a chance with the vicious sparrows. Now I plug up the entry ports of these houses soon after the downies are done in spring and unplug them in fall. I have other houses for the dees. I need to come up with a permanent solution to deter the sparrows.

Shyamala

Best idea is kill them any way you possibly can! Pellet guns, trapping, or whatever works. You will do our beautiful birds a big favor.

They are an invasive species!
http://www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/eurostarling.shtml

http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/european_starling.htm

European starlings are agricultural pests.
They damage crops and berries. European starlings also aggressively
compete with native birds for the insects they eat.

Established roosts of
European starlings lead to an accumulation of droppings nearby. The
droppings can cause some diseases to be transmitted to humans, including
Salmonella, Histoplasmosis, and a number of other bacterial and viral
diseases. European starlings can also spread bird mites to poultry on
farms.

http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/EuropeanStarlings.asp

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.

As a bird lover, I am sad to agree that European Starlings are pests of the worst degree! They spray feces as they fly (I can attest by needing my total deck area (doors, windows, walls etc.) cleaned when they nested there!), and chase the songbirds away. I'd like to feed the songbirds with a feeder they must walk into before getting the seed, but wonder if the European Starlings will still take over. Your thoughts?

I agree too. They are very messy & bossy birds. After many years of bird feeding & watching, they started to come around the past few winters in large numbers. I've tried using plastic strips on my suets, even plastic white plates attached with wire & then old CD's. At first the waving spooked them away but in a matter of days they got used to it. None of these bothered any of the songbirds. I think the idea of the bird feeder that's enclosed so birds need to go into the "cage" is a good idea. I think I'll try it this winter. I'm amazed how they hang onto the suet feeders. This winter I'm also going to try the upside down suet holders. Maybe that will help deter them.