46 BULLETIN 868, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF. AGRICULTURE. 



RELATION TO OTHER SPECIES OF BIRDS. 



The antagonism between starlings and other birds constitutes one 

 of the most frequently heard complaints against this species. This 

 is especially true in thickly settled regions where the natural nesting 

 sites of hole-nesting birds have been largely replaced with artificial 

 ones in the form of bird boxes. This fact in itself has a tendency to 

 bring to human attention most of such conflicts, as many of the bird 

 boxes are in dooryards where they are under more or less constant 

 observation. It must also be borne in mind that the driving out of 

 native species which have been induced by enthusiastic bird lovers 

 to take up sites in the dooryard, will be more keenly felt than the 

 molesting of breeding birds at a greater distance from the house and 

 with which there has been less intimate acquaintance. 



While particular attention was given to this complaint during the 

 breeding season, little antagonism was actually observed. However, 

 as acts of vandalism last for just a moment or two, it is not surprising 

 that more instances were not noted. It is apparent, then, from the 

 nature of the case that data of this kind must be secured largely 

 from the notes of reliable observers. Those who have had the for- 

 tune to witness such activities report that bluebirds and flickers suffer 

 most, but martins, house wrens, robins, English sparrows, and a few 

 other wild species, as well as domestic pigeons, are also bothered in 

 their nesting operations. 



Unrelenting perseverence dominates the starling's activities when 

 engaged in a controversy over a nesting site. More of its battles 

 are won by dogged persistence in annoying its victim than by bold 

 aggression, and its irritating tactics are sometimes carried to such a 

 point that it seems almost as if the bird were actuated more by a 

 morbid pleasure of annoying its neighbors than by any necessity 

 arising from a scarcity of nesting sites. Illustrative of this are the 

 experiences of a pair of bluebirds observed at Norwalk, Conn. , build- 

 ing a nest in a cavity high in an elm tree. On April 8 two starlings 

 were seen sitting nearby, whistling and squealing. They were not 

 noted attacking the bluebirds, but the next afternoon the bluebirds 

 had disappeared and the starlings were carrying nest material into 

 the cavity. The next day the bluebirds tried to get into a wren box 

 having an opening too small for their passage. A day or two later 

 four bird boxes were erected in the vicinity, and the bluebirds prompt- 

 ly began to build in one. This apparently aroused the displeasure of 

 the starlings ; so they entered the box and removed the nest material. 

 The same performance was repeated at two of the other boxes, and it 

 was not until the bluebirds had taken up the last box, which was 

 provided with a If -inch opening, through which the starlings could 

 not pass, that they were able to lay a set of eggs. That misfortune 



