# So there's a baby starling in the asparagus fern by the bathtub...
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [May 23, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123 "2003-05-23T22:10:32Z")
**Posts on this page:** 17
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/1 "2003-05-23T22:10:32Z")
We have a nest of them in the eves of our house. They bored a hole through the facia board and, since yesterday, have been dropping in between the walls and getting into our bedroom under the bathroom cabinets. The adult birds quickly figured out how to get to escape through the open window, as did one of the babies. There is one straggler left, who just doesn’t seem up for flying yet and is crouched in a potted plant.
The little guy is all feathered out, except for a little fluff around his neck. He hops and flutters, but so far that’s all. I’ve been to sites that talk about what to feed rescued starlings and so on and I put some food out last night which went untouched.
What I want to know is what we should _do_ with this bird. He is too old to hand feed, too young (I think) to fend for himself, and mom and dad _do_ keep dropping by. I can’t find any wildlife rehabilitors near us and we don’t want to force him outside if he can’t fend for himself.
Any suggestions out there?
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### Author:  [@sidle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sidle)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/2 "2003-05-23T22:14:01Z")
Wow.
Interesting story.
Is there any way to wait it out for another day or so and see if
he flies on his own?
Of course, then, how would he know how to get back out?
Are mom and dad still dropping by for him?
Can they show him out?
Do birds “do that”?
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### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/3 "2003-05-23T22:42:46Z")
Mayhaps you must whisper the phrase that tiny birds hear from their parents every year: “Fly or McNugget y’stinker!”
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### Author:  [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/4 "2003-05-23T22:52:31Z")
> [@](#):
>
> So there’s a baby starling in the asparagus fern by the bathtub…
Is there _also_ a wee pixie in the cowslip near the bluebells?
First thing I thought of when I saw this title…
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### Author:  [@Omniscient](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omniscient)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/5 "2003-05-23T23:03:21Z")
I’m no expert, but i might wait until sometime midday when the parents are out foraging and scoop the little sucker up and deposit him into the nest.
I’m pretty sure that whole abandoning the nest if humans touch it thing is bunk.
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 11:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/6 "2003-05-23T23:22:35Z")
If only we could _reach_ the nest, **Omniscient** , but it’s way up in the eves of a house that sits on the edge of a ravine-like drop.
I tried the McNugget threat as you suggested, **danceswithcats**. No joy. He’s still sitting there blinking at me.
And **Bosda** , there _was_ a bustle in the hedgerow, alarming as that might be.
Wish I knew what to do with this creature. 😕
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### Author:  [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/7 "2003-05-23T23:25:52Z")
Could you put the plant, pot, bird, and all, outside in a safe place? perhaps o a window ledge or something?
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [May 23, 2003, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/8 "2003-05-23T23:30:41Z")
That’s what Mr. 'Addi wants to do, **twickster**. We live on a mountainside, though and it’s full of predators. I’m worried that if we take it outside before it can fly it will be a coyote snack.
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### Author:  [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/9 "2003-05-24T00:37:12Z")
The idea of “human scent on a bird will drive away the parents” pretty much is bunk (for the most part, most birds do not have a well-developed sense of smell). It more of the presence of humans that will drive away the parents.
Put it in a bush or low tree branch somewhere below where the nest is. If the parents are still nearby, they will feed and tend to the kiddo. If not, well, truly that is the circle of life. Predators gotta feed, too.
Starlings are a non-native (non-US) species introduced here thanks to some misguided idjit from the late 1800 who decided that all the songbirds of Shakespeare should be represented in Central Park (they are mentioned once in _Henry IV, part somethingorother_). They didn’t take the first two of three times he tried, but they did eventually, and the population exploded. At my former job, I did an internal library listing of periodical articles (cataloguing each article from 15 different ornithological periodicals we received), and the section on starling sightings/expansion through the western US from the 1930s (Pennsylvania) to 1950s (far western Nevada and California) is absolute amazing.
Unfortunately, they have expanded to the point of driving many native species (bluebirds, purple martins, et al) out of their normal niche. Please don’t take it personally if this one does not survive (if you are absolutely sure it is a starling), but perhaps another species might survive if this individual does not.
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### Author:  [@monster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monster)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/10 "2003-05-24T03:30:57Z")
I had a similar problem last weekend. I had a fledgling stuck in my window well. I called animal control, and she used a long handled net to scoop him out and then she deposited him in the bushes. She said she knew that his mother was around and would take care of him. At first I was hesitant to call them because I was worried they’d take him away, but she said their job is to help them, not hurt them.
Call your local animal control to see if they have any suggestions. Good luck!
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### Author:  [@koeeoaddi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/koeeoaddi)
#### Post date: [May 24, 2003, 3:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/11 "2003-05-24T03:30:57Z")
Thanks for your replies everyone. Seems our little pal has flown the coop. He wasn’t much bigger than an egg, but what a chazzerei he left behind! Bird poop, broken plants, beer cans, cigarette butts. Messy little bastard.
Glad he found his way into the world, though. 🙂
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### Author:  [@zoeyzuzu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoeyzuzu)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2011, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/12 "2011-06-02T16:47:58Z")
> [@koeeoaddi](#):
>
> We have a nest of them in the eves of our house. They bored a hole through the facia board and, since yesterday, have been dropping in between the walls and getting into our bedroom under the bathroom cabinets. The adult birds quickly figured out how to get to escape through the open window, as did one of the babies. There is one straggler left, who just doesn’t seem up for flying yet and is crouched in a potted plant.
>
> The little guy is all feathered out, except for a little fluff around his neck. He hops and flutters, but so far that’s all. I’ve been to sites that talk about what to feed rescued starlings and so on and I put some food out last night which went untouched.
>
> What I want to know is what we should _do_ with this bird. He is too old to hand feed, too young (I think) to fend for himself, and mom and dad _do_ keep dropping by. I can’t find any wildlife rehabilitors near us and we don’t want to force him outside if he can’t fend for himself.
>
> Any suggestions out there?
if he cannot fly yet he can still be hand feed give him wet cat food or dog food it has to be a pate put a little on the end of your smallest finger and when he opens his mouth shove it down his throat you will have to feed him about every two hours if you cannot get him back with parents he will imprint on you so he will not be able to be released back into the wild but you can keep him as a pet go to starling talk to get info on him I also have a starling I found in my closet I am looking for a rehabilitator for mine also but so far no luck so I guess I now have a pet starling:D
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### Author:  [@Alice\_The\_Goon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alice_The_Goon)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2011, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/13 "2011-06-02T18:16:46Z")
I keep reading the thread title as “there’s a baby startling in the asparagus fern…” and picturing an infant in a plant, startling, with his little arms and legs going all crazy…
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### Author:  [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2011, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/14 "2011-06-02T18:32:02Z")
Kill it..Kill it…Kill it! Flying vermin! There are 200 million of these fuckers in North America thanks to one insane Shakespeare fan. These birds are one of the bigger reasons for the decline in native song birds, much more than your neighborhood cats. They should always be shot on sight. They are exempted from protection under the Migratory Bird Treaty.
> [@](#):
>
> Being an introduced species European starlings are exempt from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.[37] 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.[38]
> **[Common starling](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_Starling)**
>
> The common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, and as European starling in North America, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 in) long and has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, which is speckled with white at some times of the year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browner plumage than the adults. Its gift for mimicry h...
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/15 "2011-06-02T18:39:34Z")
This thread is from 2003. I’m sure the starling in question is dead. and flying around looking for…
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### Author:  [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2011, 6:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/16 "2011-06-02T18:52:14Z")
> [@Alice\_The\_Goon](#):
>
> I keep reading the thread title as “there’s a baby startling in the asparagus fern…” and picturing an infant in a plant, startling, with his little arms and legs going all crazy…
I thought it was “staring”. I imagined the OP walking in on some wild-eyed infant that had decided to start a garden in the bathroom.
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### Author:  [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)
#### Post date: [June 2, 2011, 7:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-theres-a-baby-starling-in-the-asparagus-fern-by-the-bathtub/177123/17 "2011-06-02T19:46:51Z")
This was something of a shocking zombie…I saw that **danceswithcats** had posted and immediately thought to myself “That can’t be right…”.