Wildlife Damage Management, Internet Center for
Date of this Version
November 1976
Abstract
Many fruit-growing areas in the United States and Canada suffer considerable economic losses to local breeding and postbreeding Starling (sturnus vulgaris) populations. Wine grapes in California (DeHaven, 1974), cherries in Michigan (Stone, 1973), and blueberries in several states (Mott and Stone, 1973) are seriously damaged by Starlings. Since more than one method is often useful in protecting fruit crops, we conducted a study in 1974 to deter- mine the number of breeding Starlings that could be captured with a given number of nest-box traps to evaluate the potential of using this control method to minimize damage in small fruit-growing areas. The idea for this study arose from Stewart’s (1973) reported success in capturing large numbers of breeding Starlings in a nest-box trap at his residence in North Carolina.