Getting starlings to shut up?

May 22, 2008 4:12 PM

We have a nest of starlings living in our ceiling. The nest is too far back to remove. We mostly don't mind, except that the noise of the nestlings can be quite annoying. Is there any way to shut them up without killing them?
posted by Lentrohamsanin to pets & animals (11 comments total)

Not really. On the plus side, starlings fledge (leave the nest) roughly 21 days after hatching, so you won't hear them sqeaking up there for too much longer. After they leave, board up the access to the nesting spot so mature birds can't return to raise a second brood.
posted by jamaro at 4:18 PM on May 22, 2008

Post a sign that says "Shhhhhhhhhhh"?

But seriously, no. Your options are to encourage them to leave [try a plastic owl, rubber snakes, or mylar balloons], or to put up with the noise until they fledge. (Which, apparently, is 21-25 days after they're born.)
posted by mudpuppie at 4:21 PM on May 22, 2008

previous starling in wall question suggests that time may be the only remedy. I believe you have about 20 days from the time the eggs hatch to the time the kids leave the next. Then you do everything in your power to expel the nest and parents and seal up the hole. Setting aside ethics, the danger is if you kill the parents while the babies are still dependent, then the babies will die in there and stink.
posted by LobsterMitten at 4:21 PM on May 22, 2008

Insulation? Noise cancellation?
posted by box at 4:24 PM on May 22, 2008

I had a nest of birds living inside the wall next to my bed...never found a permanent way to shut em up, but pounding on the wall with my fist would make them quiet for 20-40 minutes at a stretch.
posted by holyrood at 4:27 PM on May 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

Can you counterprogram, with the recorded noise of a predator, at the appropriate time?
posted by Clyde Mnestra at 4:51 PM on May 22, 2008

Not in my experience. We had starlings in the vents(?) in our roof for a couple of years, arriving every spring, leaving every fall, which is all cute & naturey, except that ugh, the noise early in the morning. Nthing those who says to block the hole once they are gone. We finally got our act together to cover all the vents where the wire had come apart early enough in the year...and the silence is blissful.
posted by epersonae at 5:16 PM on May 22, 2008

When you block the hole, you can't be overzealous in fastening the screening or boards. I have aggressive starlings that have managed to squeeze through every attempt I've made at blocking them. Last weekend, an 2 adults managed to get into the house proper through a light fixture. The noise is now the least of my worries!
posted by weebil at 5:51 PM on May 22, 2008 [1 favorite]

I had some birds living in the attic of a house I lived in once. I thought it was cute until the stink of decomposing dead bird started to emanate from the ceiling during unusually hot spring weather. One of the baby birds had died and the mother simply nudged it to a hard to reach corner of the attic. It was not a cute mess to clean up.
posted by pluckysparrow at 8:43 PM on May 22, 2008

If you'll forgive me for sounding cold blooded, you really should kill them. Starlings are awful pests and an invasive species in North America besides, which consistently will drive out or kill native songbird species.
posted by Caduceus at 12:35 PM on May 23, 2008

Follow up: they've either grown up very quickly or died. I've blocked the entry point, and not a moment too soon either: new scraps of nesting material have started showing up on the balcony suggesting a second family was getting started.
posted by Lentrohamsanin at 12:03 PM on May 31, 2008