Dancing starling spectacle caused power cuts in Scottish village (2020)

Re:Dancing starling spectacle caused power cuts in Scottish ... by AlexandrB on Thursday June 09, 2022 @11:26AM (#31682422)

I absolutely adore starlings. I used to work across from a wild meadow. In the fall starlings would gorge on some kind of berries from the meadow and then sit on the power lines on my side of the street. The result: a several hundred meter long line of pink bird poop on the sidewalk.

What always amazed me is how their takeoffs and landings seem synchronized. One second they're sitting on the power line chattering at each other - creating a great racket - and then suddenly everything goes quiet and they all take off together.

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Re:Dancing starling spectacle caused power cuts in Scottish ... by filoeleven on Thursday June 09, 2022 @11:51PM (#31689808)

I hate starlings.

I am in the US. Some prick decided to bring about 100 of them to Central Park NYC in 1890 because he liked Shakespeare, and Shakespeare mentioned them a few times in his plays.

They are an invasive species in the US, and that’s a problem. They are also horrifically screechy, which is where my hatred comes from. I’ve heard them sing some quite pleasant songs now and then—is this what they do more in their natural habitat? In my city, they mostly scream aggressively all day.

I have never hunted animals, but if I knew how to legally kill starlings in my city, I would start tomorrow.

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