‘Flying Rats (Starlings)’ – Letter
Dear Editor,
In response to the letter ‘Flying Rats (Starlings)’, May 2022.
I was sorry to hear that your reader was bothered by the annual May population explosion of starlings occurring in the Marriott Drive area of Kibworth.
Hopefully things will now have subsided a little for your reader as starling young become more independent from their parents, although communal feeding will still continue, as is their way.
Are Starlings thriving
On the other hand, your reader’s article heartened me considerably as our nation’s industrious starlings are currently coded RED on the UK conservation list, I was pleased to learn that they are thriving in a corner of Kibworth at least!
I confess that I am a starling feeder as I try not to discriminate on avian aesthetics, plus I read somewhere that despite hatching between four to six eggs per brood, most starling chicks will die of starvation.
Unlike your reader my garden is less of a ‘flight path’ and more of a ‘destination’, all are welcome here.
Leafy Marriott Drive
With starlings being heavily dependent on invertebrates, mostly the earthworms residing in our garden lawns, I wonder if the Marriott Drive area is particularly leafy.
A final thought, yes starlings do poo and I appreciate your reader’s frustration in connection with repeated linen washing and the rising cost of living.
I am flummoxed as to how to successfully introduce discriminatory bird poo controls for one species and not others.
Perhaps the ‘inconsiderate people’ your reader refers to, with lawns or bird feeders in Marriott Drive could have a whip round for your reader to use a launderette, car wash, etc., and consequently support a local business instead?
Isobel of Burton Overy
Joan Spain – 102!
