Sending a message...?

Tailtwitch · 11-22-2011, 09:32 AM

Okay, I have this crazy neighbor who has strung out a bunch of dead starlings on a clothesline in his backyard. When I asked him about it, he said he was "Sending a message" to the other starlings.

Do birds actually understand this sort of thing? XD

wvbreamfisherman · 11-22-2011, 09:35 AM

Beats Hell out of me! You might watch his yard to see if starlings avoid it.

LoveTheWater · 11-22-2011, 11:28 AM

Goodness seems like kind of a harsh way to send a message (to other birds?). I'm not real familiar with starlings are they a big nuisance or something?

Pathfinder1 · 11-22-2011, 12:25 PM

Hi...Either way, I don't think he's got both oars in the water...!!

Pathfinder1 · 11-22-2011, 12:27 PM

Hi...(again)...

Or, maybe he's into pot pies (both kinds)...!!

wvbreamfisherman · 11-22-2011, 12:28 PM

Yeah, they can be a big nuisance when they flock. You might go back and look at the tread about eating starlings (4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie).

Pathfinder1 · 11-22-2011, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wvbreamfisherman

Yeah, they can be a big nuisance when they flock. You might go back and look at the tread about eating starlings (4 and 20 blackbirds baked in a pie).

Hi...

I know...back in the late 1890s and early 1900s...market hunters used to decimate whole flocks of songbirds...to supply New York City restaurants...!!

Such food was much in demand by discriminating eaters then.

The same thing with waterfowl...they used PUNT GUNS...which were muzzleloading shotguns with a bore as big around as your wrist...!!

They couldn't be hand held, of course. They were fastened to the rowboat, and aimed by aiming the rowboat at the flock.

wvbreamfisherman · 11-22-2011, 02:24 PM

Yeah- I've read about such things. Robert Ruark talks a bit about them in his "Old Man and the Boy".

Apparently market hunting helped do in the passenger pigeon, although I remember reading someplace that the destruction of the buffalo herds had something to do with a population explosion in the passenger pigeons, followed by a population bust. Can't recall the details or where I read it though.

Never tried starling myself, but you sure couldn't hurt the population of them around here by shooting off enough for a few "blackbird pies".

Grandpa · 11-22-2011, 04:17 PM

Even with a "flock shot" with a shotgun, you couldn't get enough meat off a bunch of starlings to justify wasting the shotshell. But as wvbream said, when they start flocking they are a big nuisance. It would take 4 and 20 to make a small pie.

wvbreamfisherman · 11-22-2011, 06:00 PM

If you wanted a bunch of starlings, just put out some cracked corn and pick them off with a BB gun- use a head shot and you won't waste meat LOL.

Not sure if you'd get enough meat to justify the cost of the cracked corn, but it does attract other , more desireable birds as well.