From: hils@saynotospam.net   
      
   On 26/07/15 12:23, RS Wood wrote:   
   > Starlings have a lot of enemies.   
      
   "Starling numbers have declined markedly across much of northern Europe   
   and the UK. The decline in the UK started during the early 1980s and has   
   continued ever since. Recent data from the Breeding Bird Survey suggest   
   continuing population declines affecting starlings in England and Wales   
   since 1995. The cause of the starling decline in the UK is unknown." [1]   
      
   Starlings used to "murmur" over Bristol (England) in the winter, over   
   Temple Meads railway station. The station authorities installed netting   
   (and possibly other measures) in the 1980s to stop the starlings   
   roosting in the canopy. Since then I've seen no more murmurations in the   
   city, only a few isolated small family groups of starlings.   
      
   A couple of years ago I was in Swindon (again the railway station) at   
   the time of an even bigger murmuration (and an unexpected one,   
   apparently the flock got "lost" during migration). Every time a part of   
   the murmur swept over the station, I could hear a soft splashing sound   
   on the station platforms. A fellow traveller watched from under an   
   umbrella. That may be why murmurations are discouraged in cities.   
   Prissy, intolerant city folk...   
      
   [1]   
   http://www.rspb.org.uk/discoverandenjoynature/discoverandlearn/b   
   rdguide/name/s/starling/population_conservation.aspx   
      
   > I think they're known for eating other birds' mothers too.   
      
   Not to mention the orphaned invertebrates.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)