Nesting Competetion

Here is a cute photo --- but of a bad bird, a European Starling; bad in the sense that it robs native species of nesting opportunities. We have a number of native species like chickadees, nuthatches, swallows, wrens, bluebirds, and woodpeckers, that all depend on tree cavities for nesting, and in our crowded sterile urban environments, old snags with good cavity opportunities are fewer all the time. Years ago in 1890-01, a group of citizens of New York thought that it would be a swell idea to have the birds of Shakespeare in Central Park, so was introduced the European Starling.  In the ensuing years they have spread all across the United States, became a plague to farmers, a nuisance in urban areas, and a major competitor to native birds. I took this photo yesterday while birding at Orchard Heights City Park in West Salem, and of the sixteen species we saw, this one, the European Startling I’m sorry to say was the most numerous.