Even if it is not necessarily one of the favorites of cherry tree owners, the starling was named "Bird of the Year 2022" by the German Nature Conservation Union (NABU), the State Association for Bird Protection in Bavaria (LBV) and the Austrian animal welfare organization BirdLife. Unfortunately, like many other bird species, the population of the imitation artists, which weigh between 75 and 90 grams, has declined extremely in recent decades, so that the starling, as a protected species among the flying artists, has now been given its place on the "Red List".
The starling is not very popular with cherry tree owners
They are at home wherever they find suitable breeding grounds, such as tree cavities, abandoned nests of other conspecifics or, at best, nest boxes. If you don't have all that and can't remember these 20 cm long cave breeders at all, just listen to this fascinating singing talent on the German bird voice portal.
The little animals, which cannot be denied a certain ability to socialize with humans, not only like cherries, they also really like delicious, ripe grapes. If the "common thief" weren't marked in the photo, it would probably be very difficult for you to spot him, right? After a few days of not being bothered with his appetite or even chased away by the author of this article, his faith in humanity even went so far that he came within a few feet to serenade the donors. Out of sheer emotion, a considerable part of the grape harvest was voluntarily forgone, so that this jolly little fellow and his followers were among our regular guests, who were welcome and listened to throughout the summer.
Starlings can also be seen in the garden from time to time
Currently, the population of starlings in Europe is between 23 and 56 million animals. That only seems huge at first glance, because in the last 20 years we have lost around one million of our native pairs of starlings in Germany alone. The reasons for this are not entirely new: the intensive use but also the loss of meadows, fields and pastures lead to an acute lack of food for the starlings, as they can hardly find any worms and insects. The massive use of agrochemicals is destroying more and more the food animals, which are also of existential importance for many other bird species.
Starlings used to be cruelly driven away
In addition, berry-bearing hedges and nesting sites are missing, as many older trees with suitable nesting holes for the animals have been cut down. During the 1970's, starlings were even considered a threat to vine crops, so their nesting sites were dynamited or the birds were chased away by massive use of powered aircraft. However, Sturnus vulgaris is not only a "grape thief", but significantly reduces the population of insects, which in turn threaten our vegetable and flower beds.How garden owners can help
To ensure that the bird of the year does not soon become one of the losers of this century, a lot can be done with simple means to actively help in the animals' struggle for survival. Gardening that is close to nature instead of a neatly maintained standard green attracts the birds, not only enriches our lives acoustically and visually, but also makes a considerable contribution to the biological balance in our nature. We should therefore:
- provide suitable nesting sites;
- set up nesting boxes with differently sized entry holes for all kinds of bird species;
- instead of fieldstone-coated steel gabions, plant bird-friendly berry trees such as elder, wild roses, hawthorn or barberries;
- Make room for the well-known wildflower meadow, which becomes the perfect food base for the feathered companions with a colorful mixture of birdflowers and herbs.
Our next post is about completely different types of plants, and hungry starlings are definitely not going to fly over them.