Starling roosts

The European Starling is an exotic species that was introduced to North America in the 19th century. It's now a permanent resident across the United States and Canada, almost always near areas of human habitation and disturbance (cities, suburbs) or areas with a reliable food source (near barns or granaries).

The European Starling is considered a "problem" bird for several reasons:

• It competes fiercely for nesting cavities, ousting such native birds as bluebirds and various woodpeckers.
• It is aggressive at feeders, keeping smaller birds away and quickly exhausting birdseed supplies.
• Its enormous winter foraging flocks are considered pests in agricultural areas.
• Its huge winter roosts present hygiene challenges in human-inhabitated areas.

How to discourage starling roosts.
Discouraging a flock of starlings from roosting around your house can be difficult. Installing a plastic model hawk or owl in a tree may help, but if that's all you do the birds will soon realize it poses no threat and ignore it. It's better to use a predator decoy in combination with another bird deterrent, such as a recording of starling distress calls broadcast through a yard speaker. Loud noises will also flush bird flocks from your trees. Some people use fireworks, or clang pots and pans together. Sometimes even just clapping your hands is enough to flush a starling flock.

Although the roosting starlings may keep coming back for a while, if you chase them away every evening for a week or so, the flock may move to another roost. Be persistent to avoid having the flock become established in your yard. It's much harder to get a flock to move once they've settled in at a roost site.

Birds attacking windows

Many people become alarmed or annoyed when birds start attacking their windows in spring. The male cardinal pecking at your window is fighting what he perceives as an intruder and is simply defending his territory— he doesn't understand that it's his own reflection. In fact, both males and females may do this, especially species that often nest close to houses, such as American Robins, Northern Cardinals, Chipping Sparrows, and Song Sparrows.

Try covering the outside of the window with netting or fabric so the reflection is no longer visible. You can also try drawing soap streaks across the window to break up the reflection.

This territorial reaction may be so strong that the bird may exhaust itself, but it usually doesn't result in fatal injury. Window collisions are much more serious. Visit our Window Collisions page for ways to avoid this potentially lethal problem.

Why do woodpeckers like to hammer on our homes?

Researchers at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology are studying damage inflicted on property by woodpeckers. We invite you to learn more about this problem, including the reasons why the birds may have selected your house, and possible deterrents. Woodpeckers: Damage, Prevention, and Control

Undesirable birds at feeders

If your backyard feeders are overrun by aggressive, greedy flocks that you'd rather not invite to dinner, visit our Feeder Pests and Predators: Birds page for ways to discourage them.

There's information about unwanted guests from the mammal and insect world, too.