Starlings - Mimicry

Having not been watching Unsprung and so not aware of what they said, I know starlings used to be very popular pets in the Victorian era, where it was very common for the rich to cage them and teach them to speak. SOme of the starlings that come to my garden are excellent mimics, and yes, do some very good impressions of curlews, tawny owls too (not the hooting though!), and many others! I love them :)

Hi Susan

I am inclined to agree with you about the Starling on Unsprung.  The bird was very conversational and way too friendly with everyone in the studio.  It was cute in some respects.

It is a bird being kept in captivity - it is not really all that fair on the bird.  It is although it is house trained like a Budgie, or a Parrot.

There was a mention about the bird being used in a film set, and whatever its role is I hope that it is worth the price for the bird itself.

They do not live long so this birds life is sealed with attachment to people, and it will never be wild and free.

Still it was a great gesture to see one bird close and personal so that was good in itself.

As for the stuffed Bittern - mmm that was sad to see.

Regards

Kathy and Dave

Susan said:

Oh dear, sitting watching Unsprung and whilst I'm fascinated with Starling, I can't help thinking if they will again  become very popular pets. I'm imagining them being captured and taught to speak and stuck in cages.  am I just being over sensitive.  They are brilliant imitators,  often in the mornings in the Spring we thought there was a curlew in the garden

I have 24+ regulars and I doubt anyone in their right mind would want them as pets. Yes, they are pretty, entertaining and extremely good mimics. Indeed, several of "mine" brilliantly mimic the ring of next door's telephone - usually when the sole occupant of the house is pegging out washing, resulting in a highly entertaining (for me) mad dash indoors to answer a non-ringing phone. However, they are extremely messy eaters with food flying all over the place and when they aren't mimicking the screech they emit is deafening. I can't imagine that anyone would opt to share their home with that.

I agree that the best birds to see are those in the wild but I did find the little fella entertaining to watch, he didn't seem at all daunted by the many people who were in the room at all.

Squirrel B said:

I have 24+ regulars and I doubt anyone in their right mind would want them as pets. Yes, they are pretty, entertaining and extremely good mimics. Indeed, several of "mine" brilliantly mimic the ring of next door's telephone - usually when the sole occupant of the house is pegging out washing, resulting in a highly entertaining (for me) mad dash indoors to answer a non-ringing phone. However, they are extremely messy eaters with food flying all over the place and when they aren't mimicking the screech they emit is deafening. I can't imagine that anyone would opt to share their home with that.

Hi to All,

Like Squirrel I don't think I would want one as a pet but I love to see them. With regard to the autumn watch programme I too saw this and I heard them say that a special licence had to be obtained for them to do what they have done. I think they would always think about the birds health and well being and to be honest I think he was pleased to be getting a free feed.

Graham

I thought the starling on Autumnwatch was very entertaing and obviously used to being around humans.  I get quite a few of them in my garden and find these birds to be very entertaining with their antics around the feeding stations. Also love their mimicry and have been treated to telephones, blackbirds (outside blackbird singing season), swallows (in winter).  Watching them in the bird-bath is also very entertaining.  I don't like the idea of keeping a native bird as a pet though.

Paul.

Hello all, this is my first post on this site. I found this thread through Google and thought I'd add my experiences as someone whose house has become something of a haven for Lost Wildlife Causes.

In 2007, my partner and I did a year's volunteering at weekends for a wildlife hospital in Cheshire. Since my partner works from home, we were ideal candidates for helping to hand-rear orphaned wild birds. The majority of those that survived (and we lost only a few) were successfully released into our garden or at the wildlife hospital if that was a more appropriate environment. Out of all our hand-rears, only one magpie was too tame to release. He now lives a happy life, flying free in our home, stealing and stashing anything not firmly stuck down, settling down to sleep on us in the evening, and sticking his intelligent, inquisitive beak into everything.

A year later we had a call from the wildlife hospital to say there was another tame magpie who'd been harrassing postmen and had been captured, too tame to be safe on his own in the wild. So now we had Pie and Chips. Chips lives in an aviary in the garden, also happily.

A third magpie joined us last year, rehomed by the daughter of its owner, who had developed Alzheimer's. Plod was 20 years old when he died in July, sadly a victim of an illness, but after having grown in confidence as well as becoming a much healthier bird with us.

And now the main point of my posting here: we also live with a starling, Indy. Indy was hand-reared at a wildlife hospital in Surrey. He was BTO ringed and released with other young starlings. A few weeks later he decided freedom was not for him, and after spotting a friendly-looking woman in a garden, landed on her and followed her into the house. She made contact with us, and we took Indy on. Indy lives in a cage in our lounge, but is allowed out for some time every day. Indy is a very happy bird, and not at all miserable in his cage. His cage is his safe territory, and he spends most of the day pottering around in there, having numerous messy baths and singing merrily. The house is alive with the sound of whistles, along with shouts of "Kiss kiss!", "Where's my kiss?" "Whatcha doin'?" and "Indy Bird!". Squirrel, you are right that not many people could cope with living with a starling. We have to constantly turn up the TV as the TV and the vacuum cleaner are simply unwanted competition for the title of Loudest Thing in the Room and must be out-sung at all costs!

The thing is, Indy was given freedom, and chose the company of the humans he was reared by (as did our other birds). They have chosen captivity and the safety and security it gives them. I sincerely believe that wild birds should stay wild, and hand-reared birds should be released whenever possible, but those that would be a danger to themselves in the wild (Where I live, I could easily imagine our birds choosing to land on someone with access to an air rifle), or who aren't strong enough to survive, if they are happy to live in captivity (as ours are) and can find homes where they have suitable accommodation and the right food, I don't think there's anything wrong with offering shelter to those with nowhere else to go.

Sorry to post an essay on my first visit, but I hope it was entertaining :)

Maisie

Welcome to the forum Maisie! How fantastic!! I completely agree with you sentiments as regards to birds that simply wouldn't survive in the wild, and thank goodness for people like you that take them on and give them a safe home! Do you have any photos of your 'extended family'??

Hello Maisie and thankyou for your story. Like Marjus I think what you are doing is fantastic   but I do hate to see birds that are kept caged just for the pleasure of the 'owner'.

Hi Maisie and welcome from me also. That was a lovely story and I fully applaud the work you are doing. I completely agree that there are some animals and birds that cannot, for their own good, be released back into the wild and without people like you their lives would be the poorer - and probably shorter. So well done and keep up the good work.

On a lighter note, you certainly take on the noisier species as my solitary magpie regular visitor isn't the quietest of birds. In another thread here I described his call as being on a par with a football rattle so what with your magpies and the starling I should imagine hearing the t.v. must be something of a challenge!