Flicker vs, Starling
European Starlings steal nesting sites from Flickers. We can kill Starlings to help the Flickers, but should we? And does it make a difference?
While investigating the features of a nesting box that would be appealing to a Yellow-shafted Flicker, I discovered that there is a war going on between Northern Flickers and European Starlings. Apparently European Starlings like to nest in the same places, and they will shamelessly attack any Northern Flicker bold enough to try to claim a good nest site. The Flickers, apparently, have little stomach for the fight, and often clear off. The end result may be a decline in Flicker numbers due to a lack of nesting site availability.
Some bird enthusiasts take matters into their own hands in an effort to give the advantage back to the Flickers: they set up Starling traps and dispose of all the Starlings they catch. Of course, like water filling in where a bucket full has been removed, the Starlings just keep coming.
I know that European Starlings are an introduced species, and that they have been hugely successful in North America, to the detriment of our native bird species. They really shouldn't be here, and the Flickers have a right to prosper as well. I'd have an awfully hard time putting Starlings to death just the same.
I tell myself that it's really no different from the occasions each summer when ants try to take over the house and I'm forced to do them in by the hundreds. I'm sorry about it, but I accept the necessity of protecting my territory. Then there are the dandelions in my flower garden - another introduced species. I destroy them by the handful, and preferably before they set seed and produce offspring. The principle is the same - but I still don't think I could bring myself to kill a Starling.
Perhaps it's because birds are more like us - not really like us, but more so than an ant or a dandelion. I can look into the eyes of a bird, and feel its heart beating if I hold it in my hand. Like the Northern Flicker, I haven't the stomach for the fight.
What do you think of this? Vote in my poll from June 28 through July 5, or start a discussion under one of my articles.
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