Movements of European Starlings Captured at a Winter Roost in Omaha, Nebraska

Authors

H. Jeffrey Homan, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
George M. Linz, National Wildlife Research CenterFollow
Garrett W. Unrein, Nebraska Wildlife Services
James R. Thiele, Nebraska Wildlife Services
John M. Hobbs, Nebraska Wildlife Services

Date of this Version

2006

Comments

Published in PRAIRIE INVADERS: PROCEEDINGS OF THE 20TH NORTH AMERICAN PRAIRIE CONFERENCE, UNIVERSITY OF NEBRASKA AT KEARNEY, July 23–26, 2006, edited by Joseph T. Springer and Elaine C. Springer. Kearney, Nebraska : University of Nebraska at Kearney, 2006. Pages 79-82.

Abstract

European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) were using downtown Omaha, Nebraska, as a winter roosting site. We used radio telemetry and leg streamers to track birds in this roost. Between late December 2005 and March 2006, we radio tagged 57 starlings and located them 432 times. We attached leg bands and colored leg streamers to over 1,300 starlings captured at trapping sites within 7 km (4 mi) of the downtown roost. These techniques yielded data on previously unknown sites where starlings gathered to forage, stage, and roost. The maximum distance that a marked bird was observed from the downtown roost was 35 km (22 mi). An effective starling management plan was implemented based on the movement and activity data we collected.