30th May 2023
This is a noisy time of year – the young starlings can now fly but have not yet learnt to feed themselves. They fly off with their parents and perch in easy reach of food and then squawk loudly to ensure that their parents keep on putting food into their ever open beaks! The juniors are a delicate shade of grey compared with the shiny sparkly back that they will sport when they reach adulthood.
It is good to see – and hear – them as their number have declined by 66% since the mid-1970s, placing them on the red list. According to the RSPB only 15% survive the first year to make it to adulthood. I hope that keeping our feeders full of fatty insect based nibbles will give them a helping hand.
The Green Tau 