100 Days and Counting

This is a terrorist!

Photo: Kevin Sykes

These are the worst things in my life right now. The European (or "Common") Starling. They have taken up residence right above my sleeping head. First it was cats "doing it" right under my bedroom window. Now this! Every morning, around 6:00am, I am rudely awakened by a plethora of scratching, knocking, banging, chirping, and flapping. You can't sleep through that, I know, I've tried, a lot! 

Kevin is up and gone before the crack of dawn, and before the animals, so this a burden I bare alone. It did get SO BAD yesterday that I started pounding on the ceiling in my room, only to see one of our beloved neighborhood cats jump down off my roof. Cats+Birds= NOISE! I text-ed my experience to Kevin and he made it a special point to come home from work and investigate (the noise was so bad I thought we had cats in the roof too). Here is a little Wikipedia background on my problem, in case you are interested:

"After two failed attempts, about 60 European starlings were released into New York’s Central Park in 1890 by Eugene Schieffelin. He tried to introduce every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare to North America in 1890.

Many hold a strong dislike of starlings because of their aggressive behavior at feeders and nesting sites, and their overwhelming flocks and roosting habits.

Starlings are among the worst nuisance species in North America. The birds travel in enormous flocks; pose danger to air travel; disrupt farms; displace native birds; and roost on city blocks. Corrosive droppings on structures cause hundreds of millions of dollars of yearly damage. In 2008 the U.S. government poisoned, shot or trapped 1.7 million, the most of any nuisance species."

It turns out all of my problem is just two little birds (the two Kevin caught on film in the photo above). Kevin tore apart their nest and blocked the entrance to the roof yesterday. Problem solved... Not! This morning, 6:00am, more banging and chirping than ever. Like, serious banging on metal and wood. Wouldn't you know, they got back in. They are rebuilding (again, see photo above), and they are as annoying as ever. Seeing as how our neighbors have set up three bird feeders right by the fence I can't see this problem going away easily. With bird feeders comes birds, with birds come cats, with cats come poop, and that's how I feel about this situation. POOPY!