Are those starlings?

[Redneck in training]

I saw six black birds landing on our bird feeder today. I was able to snap just one picture before they flew away. It was about 6F. Are those starlings? Shouldn't they be in Florida by now?

 

[Wagtail]

Yep! I've got them around my place year-round too.

Hardy little buggers aren't they!

 

[wngsprd]

We've had them around, too, but now the cowbirds have moved in...so have to put out extra seed for the other birds.

 

[Pepsiboy]

I saw six black birds landing on our bird feeder today. I was able to snap just one picture before they flew away. It was about 6F. Are those starlings? Shouldn't they be in Florida by now?
View attachment 454216

Redneck,

When I lived in Minnesota, we used to call them Grackles. They are PERMANENT residents and do not migrate.

Dave

 

[kcflhrc]

A Grackle is a totally different bird than those Starling rodents.



All the European Starlings in North America descended from 100 birds set loose in New York's Central Park in the early 1890s. The birds were intentionally released by a group who wanted America to have all the birds that Shakespeare ever mentioned.

 

[LD1]

A Grackle is a totally different bird than those Starling rodents.

View attachment 454222

All the European Starlings in North America descended from 100 birds set loose in New York's Central Park in the early 1890s. The birds were intentionally released by a group who wanted America to have all the birds that Shakespeare ever mentioned.

So is that a picture of a starling or a grackle?

Because what you picture is what we call starlings around here

 

[kcflhrc]

So is that a picture of a starling or a grackle?

Because what you picture is what we call starlings around here

That is a Grackle in the picture I first posted. Here is a Starling

 

[Toyboy]

Starlings are nothing more then a trash bird. They'll take over anything they can fit through similar to English sparrows.... bird houses, nesting boxes, woodpecker holes/homes, etc. driving the native species away. Trashy dirty birds.

 

[k0ua]

We have both the Purple Grackle and the Starling. The nasty starlings outnumber the Grackle's about 1000 to 1. Starlings are everywhere, don't migrate, and should be shot on site.. Only problem is there is not enough ammunition in the world to get rid of them.

 

[oldballs]

We have both the Purple Grackle and the Starling. The nasty starlings outnumber the Grackle's about 1000 to 1. Starlings are everywhere, don't migrate, and should be shot on site.. Only problem is there is not enough ammunition in the world to get rid of them.

Ditto James..............and they carry Histoplasmosis IIRC.