4 THE AU DU. BLO UNs Be Us eee 
especially attractive to the young birds, while crickets also form a good 
portion of their food. 
Unfortunately the starling is rather fond of cherries, and its raids on 
the cherry crops in June and July make it an enemy of many farmers. Of 
course, the starling does not consume nearly as many cherries as the robin 
which consistently eats about twice as much cultivated fruit as the starling. 
Apples and pears are eaten in small numbers in late winter and early 
spring. This fruit is undoubtedly waste that has been left on the trees or 
lying on the ground. Isolated orchards are sometimes attacked by roving 
fiocks of starlings, mostly the young birds that are just out of the nest and 
attempting to forage for themselves. 
For the most part the starling does very little damage to small grain 
crops. The large flocks of red-winged blackbirds, cowbirds, and grackles 
that roam the country in the fall when the grain is ripe very often are 
mistaken for starlings, and it is accused of deeds perpetrated by its 
associates. Sweet corn, just ready for the market, is sometimes eaten in 
small amounts by starlings, while the red-wing’s food at this time is made 
up almost entirely of the juicy kernels. Of 23801 starling’s stomachs 
examined only fifty-two contained corn. Stomachs examined throughout the 
year in various parts of the country showed that corn and small grain 
makes up only 1.16% of their annual food, while weevils, ground beetles, 
may beetles, grasshoppers, caterpillars, millipeds, flies, ants and other 
insects make up 55.68% of the annual food. Animal and vegetable garbage 
constitute 14.79% of their food, while cultivated fruits make up only 1.75%. 
Wild fruits make up a rather large portion of their food with 23.86%. 
PHOTO BY EARL G. WRIGHT 
Removing a starling from a trap for banding 
