A Starling Control Program For the Okanagan Similkameen

Background & Introduction to British Columbia
In 1890 The American Acclimatization Society brought 60 European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) to Central Park in New York City in order to be one step closer in achieving their goal to establish all of the birds featured in Shakespeare's plays into North America. A further 40 Starlings were introduced in 1891. This species is now firmly established across the entire continent and are one of the most common and widespread birds in North America. Starlings are listed on the World Conservation union List of the World's 100 Worst Invasive Species.

First sightings of Starlings in the Okanagan Valley were reported in Oliver in 1945. First nests were discovered in Vernon in 1952. It is believed that starlings became a successful breeding species in the Okanagan sometime between 1952 and 1956.

Starlings are intelligent and adaptable birds. They exist in almost all habitat types but are most commonly associated with human habitations. Starlings form large flocks in early fall and winter and can be seen flying from roost to field in great numbers. They may fly 30 or more miles from roosting to feeding sites. Flocking is beneficial to individual birds because more time can be spent foraging for food rather than looking out for predators.

Starlings are aggressive and opportunistic. They will take any suitable site for nesting and evict any previous owner, driving native birds from their territory. They sometimes watch other birds build a complete nest before forcing them to leave. Starlings have two broods a year with four to five eggs in a brood. They average 8 offspring per year. Incubation of the eggs takes 12 days and the fledglings leave the nest after 25 days. The young leave to join other juveniles and form flocks that move on to other territories.

Why Starlings are considered to be Pests
Starlings are considered to be pests because of the damage they cause, especially to agriculture and in urban roosts.

Starlings are well adapted to urban life, which offers an abundance of nesting & roosting sites. Large flocks are unsightly, noisy and contaminate the area with their droppings.

At livestock operations starlings consume feed and contaminate the feed and water with their droppings. They are particularly attracted to these locations in the winter when the weather is cold and food is scarce. Starlings may also transfer disease among livestock facilities. In winter, flocks of up to 2000 birds can consume 1 to 2 tonnes of feed in a month and can contaminate or spoil an additional 500 to 1000 kg of feed. They also selectively eat the high-protein portion of protein-supplemented livestock feed.

Berry, tree fruit and vineyard operations are a favourite target for these flocks of birds, consuming and/or damaging fruit in quantities that add up to significant losses to farmers and to the local economy. Starlings cause grape crop losses in British Columbia of more than 1.5 million dollars annually.

Activities of the Starling Control Program
A pilot Starling Control Project aimed at reducing starling populations through an aggressive trapping program began in 2003. Various agricultural commodity organizations, environmental funding programs and Regional Districts funded this project. The BC Fruit Growers' Association provided administration for the program. This pilot project met with particular success in Keremeos and in parts of Oliver and Osoyoos where a more intensive trapping effort took place. The project wrapped up in early 2006 however the Steering Committee was not prepared to see the program's demise.

With the experience gained from the pilot project, the commodity groups proposed to take the program to a larger, more intense approach throughout the Okanagan. The Steering Committee also recognized that in order to evaluate the effectiveness of the trapping program, more information was needed on the structure of the starling populations in British Columbia. With those two issues in mind, the committee began meeting with representatives of the 3 regional districts in the Okanagan Similkameen to secure long term funding for the program. At the same time, a search was underway for someone to carry out the needed research to support and move the existing program along.

The Trapping Program
A team of professional trappers who use ethical and humane practices carries out trapping. Trapping occurs in areas such as feedlots and other cattle operations and at landfill sites and is most effective in the fall and over winter/early spring. Once trapped, the birds are moved to an enclosed box and euthanized using CO2. The carcasses are cooled, bagged and then frozen for distribution to bird rehab centres and falconries.

A Research Component
Doctors Tom Dickinson and Nancy Flood, a husband and wife team who teach and conduct research at Thompson Rivers University, are heading research study to determine the population structure of European Starlings in southern BC. Dr. Dickinson, an associate professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, is an avid bird-lover who has been studying birds for over 30 years.

Dr. Dickinson began by collecting and analyzing data from annual Breeding Bird Surveys conducted throughout various means -- an example being the Okanagan Christmas Bird Counts. He also met with the program's trappers and used their knowledge and the observations they recorded along with the detailed documentation on their trapping results since the program began in 2003. Through all of this plus their backgrounds and other research at Thompson Rivers Dr. Dickinson & Dr. Flood were able to put forward recommendations for a two-year research program that will fill the information gap and therefore help to evaluate the effectiveness of the trapping program. These recommendations were accepted and work is now underway.

A copy of the Recommendations for Research in Aid of Developing an Integrated Agricultural Avian Control Program can be found on this website.

Anyone interested in receiving further information on any aspects of the starling program should contact Connie Bielert, BC Grapegrowers' Association or Roger Hol, Chairman of the program's management committee.

Connie Bielert, Administration	Roger Hol, Chairman
BC Grapegrowers' Association	Starling Program Management Committee
877-762-4652 toll free	250-499-2235

Download Starling_Proposal-T_Dickinson-May_08.pdf (218 KB, PDF)
Download Fact_Sheet_on_Nesting_March_09.pdf (81 KB, PDF)
Download 2008_-_a_year_in_review.pdf (441 KB, PDF)

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