How to Attract Starlings to Your Backyard

Starlings like places to roost, especially when raising their young.

Starlings, so named because of their star-shape while in flight, were first introduced to North America at the turn of the 20th Century, and have since expanded their population across the continent, becoming one of the most numerous bird species. Starlings are attractive small birds, with iridescent black-green plumage and bright yellow bill. Although some farmers find the birds to be a nuisance due to crop picking and scavenging at feedlots, backyard birdwatchers attract starlings to their yards with bird feeders and welcoming roosting space.

Things You'll Need

• Tube feeder
• Cracked corn
• Peanuts
• Hanging bird bath
• Large birdhouse

Instructions

1. Fill a tubular bird feeder with the cracked corn and peanuts.

2. Hang the feeder from the limb of a tree or on the frame of your porch.

3. Suspend a bird bath filled with fresh water near the feeder.

4. Hang a birdhouse someplace where it is protected from predators and wind. Starlings like to roost, particularly during the winter months or when raising their young.

Tips & Warnings

• A cracked corn and peanut diet may also attract doves, cardinals, chickadees or house finches to your feeder, as well as starlings.

References

• West Virginia University Extension Service: Your Winter Birds: Who They Are and What to Feed Them; Norma Venable; May 2000
• Utah State University Cooperative Extension: European Starlings; Jennifer A. Lynch and Terry A. Messmer; December 2010
• Michigan United Conservation Clubs: Bird and Other Wildlife Feeders