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.
ReplyDeleteThose 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.
I 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.
ReplyDeleteStarlings 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!
I 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.
ReplyDeleteConsidering 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!
ReplyDeleteBefore 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.
ReplyDeleteGo 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 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!
ReplyDeleteYou 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.
We 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!
Great 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?
ReplyDeleteI 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.
ReplyDelete