Monday, August 11, 2025
Starling Squabble Close-Up
I know I've been hitting you with a lot of videos recently, but indulge me one more time. When I've videoed the starling squabbles at our bird feeder in the past, I've used my iPhone -- which works OK to a point, given that the bird feeder is out in the backyard and I have to film from the doorway of the house. But the other day I experimented with my big camera -- with its big zoom lens -- which is also capable of videos. I never use it for that purpose and wasn't sure I'd even remember how, but I managed to make it work.
So, there you have it -- the daily (or at least as often as I feed them) starling squabble, close up! (This one is also much squabblier than the previous video. All the water you see being flung into the air is coming from starlings in the bird bath, which is just below the feeder.)
I know the Russians didn't particularly like our bird feeders because of crazy episodes like this. I'm not sure how the new upstairs neighbors feel about them, but someone did come out and clap their hands at one point to scare the birds away, so they may not be thrilled either. We do get other, quieter birds -- tits, robins, the woodpecker -- so I don't want to put the feeders away completely, but even I will agree that the starlings are a bit over the top.
I thought I might have a second video for you, because I found a long-expired egg in the refrigerator (July 20) and boiled it to feed it to the foxes. It's sitting out there in the garden, with the camera trained on it, but the foxes didn't come around last night. Maybe we'll get lucky today or tonight.
Otherwise, yesterday was pretty quiet. I finished my Inspector Rebus mystery and washed a bunch of my shirts in preparation for the new school year. I also took stuff to charity and then reorganized the linen closet, during which I found more stuff for charity. So I have yet another bag going.
In the evening I re-watched one of my favorite movies, "The Year of Living Dangerously" with Mel Gibson and Sigourney Weaver. Mel certainly was a looker in his youth. It's a shame he's become such a loon.
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Clapping hands to scare birds away? I don't get it. All birds are welcome in our garden but starlings are rare visitors here. We get hedge sparrows, magpies, jackdaws, wood pigeons, robins and of course tits. I have always enjoyed tit watching.
ReplyDeleteI agree -- I like pretty much any bird, even pigeons.
DeleteThose starlings sound like the rowdy neighbors of the bird world. Lol
ReplyDeleteYou obviously caught them in full squabble mode. Also, now I’m curious if the foxes will ever get their boiled egg treat.
They definitely are rowdy!
DeleteI love this video! I wondered what was spitting from below. Nice to know it’s a bird bath. The bird noise would be welcome in my backyard! Mel WAS a looker. I can’t look at him now.
ReplyDeleteI know, he has really sullied his youthful beauty with his later-life insanity.
DeleteStarlings are the yobbos of the bird world. We rarely see them here in our garden, just the smaller birds plus crows and magpies.
ReplyDeleteIf we had left an egg out in the garden overnight, certain large rodents with long tails and sharp teeth would have had it away!
That's a good way to put it -- "yobbos of the bird world"! I was ready for the possibility of a rat but surprisingly it hasn't happened.
DeleteI have to admit to not being that keen on Starlings. They are noisy, disruptive and they empty our bird feeders, the bird table and the fat-ball holder in minutes leaving nothing for the little birds of which we used to have lots. I used to surreptitiously take some of the seeds and meal worms round to my small raised bed for the Robin to have when he arrived.
ReplyDeleteThey DO take over, I agree. No other bird can get to the feeders when the starlings are in full squabble (except the parakeets, who are pretty aggressive themselves).
DeleteConsidering that in their murmuration flights starlings are so given to formation, their antics on the ground or on bird feeders is let it all hang free!
ReplyDeleteIt's their "me" time!
DeleteBefore the cats were granted the freedom of the garden, our bird feeders attracted squadrons of starlings and they were so entertaining. I loved them. Starling numbers are declining, so be thankful you still see them.
ReplyDeleteYes, I've read that. It surprised me because we've had so many around here!
DeleteGo back further to the Australian film Tim, and Gibson was more smoking hot. The film with Piper Laurie in my memory, is worth a watch. A bit soppy, as I recall. Sometime after the Braveheart film, he became a crazy man.
ReplyDeleteI saw "Tim" many years ago and remember him being smoking hot in it! Not the greatest movie, though.
DeleteI have no patience with city dwellers who hate the sounds of nature. Around here there are former city dwellers always wanting to fell trees because they drop untidy leaves. They're usually shut down in board meetings!
ReplyDeleteAnd rightly so!
DeleteYou captured the Starlings at their highest squabble mode.
ReplyDeleteWe have Bluejays that squabble but never in the numbers of your Starlings. There might be two or three at the feeder and two of the three yields to one. It makes me think they have some sort of hierarchy.
Yeah, the starlings are even more numerous this year. Maybe more of their chicks survived to adulthood, for better or worse!
DeleteWe have lots of loud annoying birds chattering at each other but it's just nature.
ReplyDeleteYour neighbors should get over it.
Carlos goes outside to "talk" to them once they start!
I agree -- I enjoy it a lot more than our neighbors' leaf blowers and lawn mowers!
DeleteGreat video. What a sad world we live in where people find bird noise annoying. How do they react to cats, airplanes, cats, dogs, or godforbid children?
ReplyDeleteWell, the Russians had no pets, at least as far as I know. They don't seem like animal people!
DeleteI still use my old SLR for rare video taking because I feel the quality is superior. Maybe not so much in resolution but mostly in control. I feel with one hand working the lends and the other holding the camera with a finger to start and stop the video, I end up with less shaking that I do with my cellphone where controlling zoom or even stopping the video results in lots of camera movement.
ReplyDeleteInteresting. I just never got into shooting video on the DSLR but I will explore it more. There's still some movement with a long lens, but you're right, it's easier to control with both hands!
DeleteThose starlings remind me of the sparrows we used to get in Xenia. They weren't really all that loud, but man they did like to squabble with each other!
ReplyDeleteBirds can be so nasty to each other! There is no "brotherhood" (or "sisterhood") in the bird world.
DeleteThe starlings are like a classroom of preschoolers, aren't they? Good film.
ReplyDeleteYou haven't written much about your new neighbors. I've been wondering how it's going with them.
That's a very apt comparison! Yes, we like our new neighbors. More about them in the next post!
DeleteStarlings do not have good press as they tend to be bullies.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they definitely want what they want, when they want it.
DeleteOh wow, those starlings are a crazy, noisy and bossy bunch. They are certainly not interesting is sharing.
ReplyDeleteWhen does school start again for you?
You'd think they'd look out more for fellow starlings, but nope! It's all competition!
DeleteOh, and I start on Thursday, but the kids aren't back until the end of the month.
DeleteStarlings are irascible thugs, greedy and mean. Berry farmers here have a hell of a time getting them to stop coming around. I haven't seen many this summer- a good thing, maybe the farmers have succeeded. We have an ongoing box in the entry way , we dump stuff regularly- there are many recycling places to choose from. Some will not take electronics, some will not take desks...A job well done- you!
ReplyDeleteYes Mel was a dish back in the olden days! A most disappointing man.
Starlings in the USA are invasive and non-native, so that's a bit different from here, where they belong!
DeleteI had a similar thought to JayCee, that a r........ might like an egg treat !
ReplyDeleteWendy (Wales)
It's OK. You can say "rat." :)
DeleteAre your neighbors also Russian?
ReplyDeleteNope, they're Israeli.
DeleteI have bird squabbles on my bird feeder but at least they aren't noisy about it.
ReplyDeleteNot much of a squabble, then! A silent squabble?
DeleteGood luck with clapping Starlings away. They're resolute in their bad manners.
ReplyDeleteYeah, they're pretty determined.
DeleteHave you met your new neighbors? Have you nicknamed them yet?
ReplyDeleteI have not nicknamed them! They haven't done anything yet to warrant a nickname but it will probably happen. LOL
DeleteWhat a video!! Birds can be quite mean on a feeder, but those Starlings surpass our Cardinals by a long shot.
ReplyDeleteI always liked Mel Gibson and Signs is one of my favorite movies, but yeah... he kinda went off the deep end. I know I saw that movie because Linda Hunt immediately came to mind when you mentioned it!
Are you going to read a Dickens this winter or did Bleak House do you in? I reviewed Nicholas Nickleby over the weekend and highly recommend it if you haven't already read it.
Linda Hunt was so great in that movie. She won the Oscar for it. I will definitely read a Dickens this fall -- not sure which one yet! I'll take "Nicholas" under advisement.
DeleteI guess I don't quite understand the idea of bad birds vs good birds. They are simply being true to their nature. I hope the new neighbors are not going to be disagreeable.
ReplyDeleteKind of like children -- they're noisy by nature, but we adults tend to prefer the quieter ones! LOL
DeleteAbsolutely LOVED the video! Those birds do squabble!
ReplyDeleteAren't they crazy?
DeleteBird fight!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteI know, they're nuts!
DeleteBirdie Nom Nom Party
ReplyDeleteMore like an eating contest!
DeleteYou are a machine! I wish I had one half your energy! We see crow squabbles on the beach all the time, and they're really fun to watch!
ReplyDelete