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How to Get Rid of Nuisance Birds: Blackbirds & Starlings
How to Get Rid of Nuisance Birds: Blackbirds & Starlings. Blackbirds and starlings are common nuisance birds. According to the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, blackbirds and starlings damage crops, gardens and buildings with their unwanted nests and roosting activity. Consider eliminating the blackbirds' and starlings' natural...
Blackbirds and starlings are common nuisance birds. According to the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, blackbirds and starlings damage crops, gardens and buildings with their unwanted nests and roosting activity. Consider eliminating the blackbirds' and starlings' natural habitat to successfully rid the nuisance birds from your property.
Things You'll Need
Trimmers
Tube bird feeders
Safflower or nyjer thistle bird seed
Birdhouses
Wood
Drill
Hammer
Nails
Bird spikes
Thin all trees on your property regularly to make them less attractive to blackbirds and starlings.
Remove all berry-yielding shrubs and standing water sources from your property. Blackbirds and starlings are attracted to areas that feature readily accessible food, such as berry-yielding shrubs, and open water sources.
Use a bird feeder that excludes blackbirds and starlings. Nebraska Wildlife Rehab recommends using tube bird feeders, which allow small birds, such as finches, easy access to the seed, but exclude blackbirds and starlings.
Select a bird seed that is unappealing to blackbirds and starlings. Nebraska Wildlife Rehab recommends trying safflower or nyjer bird seed, as it is unappealing to blackbirds and starlings.
Reduce the size of birdhouse entrance holes. You can keep starlings out of bluebird boxes by making the entrance holes 1? inches in diameter. Replace all birdhouses or drill a 1?-inch hole into a small piece of wood and use it to cover a larger entrance hole in all birdhouses on your property.
Place bird spikes on all window, door and roof ledges to prevent the nuisance birds from roosting on your property. Bird spikes have short, heavy wire prongs that stick out at various angles to prevent birds from landing. You can purchase bird spikes at hardware or pet stores.
Tips & Warnings
Some states may allow your to capture blackbirds and starlings with live traps and to take the captured birds to a local humane society or veterinarian to be killed, but this is not a sure method to keep the pests away.
If you own livestock, decrease the amount of water you place in their trough. According to the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture, starlings can be discouraged from watering at livestock troughs by keeping the water level low enough so that the birds cannot reach the water when perched on the edge of the trough.
