Looks like there's a grizzly neck in there too... :lol:
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Looks like there's a grizzly neck in there too... :lol:
perch,Quote:
Originally Posted by perch
That's the best P.S. I've seen in a while!
Doug :lol:
The new march issue of fly fisherman has a whole section on using starling to tye.
So what again, are the symptoms of avian flu? Or is it bird flew? Whatever. I hear you can get it from eating undercooked starlings. *G*
The European Starling was introduced to North America in the late 1800s, when 100 birds were released in New York City. Today, only a century later, their North American population is believed to exceed 200 million. Starlings are widely distributed all across the United States and Canada, and they appear to be slowly expanding the northern and southern boundaries of their range. Like House Sparrows, European Starlings are habitat generalists, and their distribution is closely associated with human habitation. They nest in areas ranging from rural and agricultural to suburban and urban areas, but they avoid heavily wooded, mountainous, and arid regions. Starlings readily and aggressively displace nesting pairs of other species from their nests, often destroying eggs and killing nestlings. They often out-compete woodpeckers, Great Crested Flycatchers, Tree Swallows, Eastern Bluebirds, and Purple Martins for nesting sites. Consequently, the populations of these and other native cavity-nesting species have declined.
(Source: http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/ ... 20starling)
This is a nonnative species which has caused tremendous impacts to native species and crops in the US. They are not protected by the US Government, as are most passerines.
Not quite as bad as housecats in my opinion, but...
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v359/ ... 76_low.jpg Feet, food, and bait for research at work.
"Not quite as bad as housecats in my opinion, but..."
:twisted: :twisted: :twisted: Feral cats
From the hunting and trapping digest on the Pennsylvania Game Commission web site:
STARLINGS AND ENGLISH SPARROWS: No closed season, except during the antlered and antlerless deer seasons and until noon daily during the spring gobbler turkey season. No limit.
Normally I do not shoot something that I do not eat. However, I have seen the slaughter that Starlings unleash on the Eastern Blue Bird. I have no problem with shooting them. This is not like the argument about brown trout in our native brook trout waters. Those two species co-exist quite well in the same fisheries.
Good for you namekagon. Even if you don't tie flies, those birds are garbage. They are an invasive, introduced species that are responsible for spreading disease and wiping out native species. They nearly wiped out our state bird (Bluebird).
Betty: Here is the offical say on the Starling.
Starlings
Scientific Name: Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus (Family Sturnidae)
Starling Biology
Nest Encroachment: Starlings have been reported to dump eggs into the nests of Bluebirds. This activity can help contribute to the decline of the Bluebird species in the U.S.
Legal Status: No Federal protections as they are an introduced species (ie. Starlings are not a species native to the U.S.) Your state may have its own protections.
I have over 20 Bluebrd boxes on my farm here in SE Michigan. I delight in watching the birds, they like to come to one of my barn windows and eat flies that are hanging around the barn. I have watched Starlings go into a bluebird nest, throw out the little fledglings and lay their own eggs, which I destroy later. Ask an Oregonian Holly farmer how much damage they do to the holly crop with droppings, thousands enter the trees at night to sleep and create havoc. Sorry, they are dead meat around my farm. I use a 22 pellet rifle when they are perched and a shotgun with #9 shot when they swarm. It's kinda the ole, "mess with me and I'll mess with you" attitude I have towards them.
The classic Crow in Sauerkraut recipe is even better with a starling substitute.