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



Field observation sheds some light on the added competition for 

 food imposed upon native species by the presence of the starling. 

 During the breeding season, robins in suburban sections and meadow- 

 larks in the more open country are the species thrown most intimately 

 in contact with the newcomer. The robin finds its customary supply 

 of cutworms in the garden reduced by the diligent search of the star- 

 ling ; earthworms, a favorite food of the robin in wet weather, also are 

 taken by the starling, but the supply of these appears to be ample 

 for both. In the case of the meadowlark, such items as cutworms, 

 clover leaf weevils, and other beetles constitute the food supply 

 most frequently sought by both species. 



After the breeding season the starling comes in competition with 

 several additional species in its search for food. In feeding on 

 meadow and pasture land, its closest associate is the cowbird, and 

 a mixed flock of these two species is a common sight about dairy herds. 

 Contrary to expectation, however, the food habits of the two do not 

 seriously conflict at that time of year. A comparison of the stomach 

 contents of cowbirds and starlings secured from the same flocks 

 showed that while starlings were feeding most heavily on grasshoppers 

 and crickets, cowbirds were satisfying themselves largely by picking 

 up seeds of ragweed and foxtail grass. Similar conditions existed 

 in mixed flocks of starlings, red-winged blackbirds, and grackles 

 roaming through cornfields. Ripening corn formed the major por- 

 tion of the food of the red-wings and grackles, while starlings ate 

 comparatively little. Probably the greatest influence exerted by 

 the starling on the food supply of other birds is occasioned by its 

 consumption of wild fruit during late summer and qarly fall. Wild 

 cherry and sour gum trees heavily laden with fruit are soon stripped 

 when a flock of several hundred starlings feeds continually in the 

 vicinity, and, although the total supply of this food is enormous, 

 instances were observed where locally such birds as robins, catbirds, 

 and cedar waxwings were compelled to seek other sources of food. 

 During winter starlings secure a certain portion of the food formerly 

 eaten by English sparrows, especially about dumping grounds of 

 cities. Where bird lovers have taken pains to attract native species 

 they have often found the foreigner greedily consuming all the food 

 they could supply, with the result that the cost of attracting birds 

 rose almost to a prohibitive point. 



Here again must judgment be given on the relative worth of the 

 species concerned before the seriousness of the starling's consumption 

 of the former food supply of other birds can be understood. After 

 carefully weighing all the evidence available, it is safe to state that 

 in the area covered by this investigation the starling is economically 

 the superior of the robin, the catbird, the red-wing, the grackle, the 





