4 Proven Ways to Get Rid of Starlings TODAY! (2026)
I try my best to prevent, repel, and deter starlings at my feeders.
And before you say that I should feed all of God’s creatures with a smile on my face, I want you to know that I wholeheartedly disagree! I will gladly send you all my starlings and let you pay for all the bird food they consume. 🙂
*Click here to skip directly to the 4 strategies that help stop starlings!*
Here are THREE reasons why I try to keep European Starlings out of my backyard:
Starlings are aggressive!
- One of the best reasons to get rid of starlings is because they are aggressive towards other birds, and it’s not uncommon to witness them attacking and scaring away other species from my feeders.
Starlings travel in large flocks!
- The other problem arises with the fact that starlings don’t travel solo. These loud, raucous birds generally arrive in large flocks, completely taking over your feeding station. I feel bad for any other species that tries to sneak in for a quick bite. If starlings just came one at a time, I would enjoy them MUCH more.
Starlings are invasive to North America!
- Did you know that starlings aren’t even supposed to be here? Back in 1890, 40 starlings were brought over from Europe and released in New York City’s Central Park. The man responsible (Eugene Schieffelin) had a mission to introduce all of the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays in North America.
- The rest is history as starlings easily conquered the continent, along the way out-competing many of our beautiful native birds. Their ability to eat almost anything and adapt to human development is uncanny and second to no other species, except maybe the House Sparrow. Thanks for nothing, Eugene!
Just a warning before we begin: Even when implementing the strategies listed below, starlings are extremely hard to prevent in your backyard! My best defense is using all of the tips together.
FOUR ways to stop European Starlings:
#1. Choose your food wisely.
A great way to keep starlings away from your bird feeders is to use foods they don’t enjoy eating. Let’s look at the body type of a European Starling. Specifically, take a closer look at their beak.
The shape of a starling’s beak is long, pointy, and soft, which is perfect for eating invertebrates such as insects, spiders, worms, snails, and caterpillars. Their beak also allows them to eat fruit, grains, and small seeds.
If you are using any of the below foods at your feeding station, then you are at risk for a starling invasion!
Foods that starlings CAN’T RESIST:
- Cracked corn: Starlings LOVE cracked corn, and it might be their favorite food! Remove immediately to help get rid of starlings.
- Sunflower kernels/chips: Because of their soft and pointy beaks, starlings like any seed that has already been cracked open, such as sunflower chips.
- Suet with corn, peanuts, etc.: In my backyard, starlings go crazy for suet, but only if it has cracked corn, peanuts, or other shelled seed inside. If I just put out plain suet, they tend to not consume it as fast.
- Shelled Peanuts: As you will see below, peanuts still in the shell are great to use to prevent starlings.
- Millet: Starlings love eating any sort of grain, including all types of millet.
- Mealworms: Invertebrates make up a large portion of a starling’s diet in nature, so this is not surprising.
- Bread or other human food: There is a reason starlings thrive living around people. They love many of the same things we eat!
So what foods keep starlings away from our bird feeders?
Knowing which types of food starlings don’t prefer is critical in your quest to prevent them. Small shifts in the foods I offer in my feeding station have made an enormous difference in keeping them away.
Because of their slender and soft beak, starlings have trouble eating any food that has a thick outer shell. Their beak doesn’t provide the type of leverage or power needed to crack the food open.
Here are FIVE foods that help deter starlings:
- Food #1: Black-oil sunflower
Starlings will eat black-oil sunflower, but in my humble opinion, they don’t seem to love it. If you have a big starling problem, you may also need to remove black-oil sunflower, but luckily I have not had many issues offering it.
- Food #2: Striped sunflower
This type of sunflower seed has a much thicker shell than black-oil sunflower. Luckily, starlings have huge problems opening up the shell to get to the delicious seed inside.
- Food #3: Safflower
The miracle seed! Starlings, squirrels, and other blackbird species don’t care for safflower, but most other feeder birds (cardinals, chickadees, etc.) eat it willingly.
- Food #4: Peanuts in the shell
A starling’s wimpy beak can’t break through the hard exterior.
- Food #5: Nyjer
This small seed is too small for starlings to bother with.
And there you have it. 🙂 Being aware of the foods in my backyard is a central part of my starling prevention strategy.
#2. Use a starling-proof bird feeder.
This strategy is my favorite way to keep starlings away from bird feeders. If starlings can’t physically access your bird food, then they can’t eat! 🙂
The good news is that deploying a starling-proof bird feeder will stop starlings from feeding. The bad news is that the feeder will also prevent any other medium-sized bird or larger from eating, including many that you want to see!
Here are three types of feeders that prevent starlings:
Caged bird feeders:
A metal cage encloses the feeder. The holes are small enough to keep starlings (and squirrels) away, but big enough to let most smaller songbirds through to feed. I LOVE watching starlings grasp onto the outside of the cage and just look at the delicious food on the inside. 🙂
Audubon caged tube feeder Check Price - Amazon
Weight-sensitive feeders:
These feeders can typically be adjusted to close when a certain amount of weight is applied.
I own the Absolute II hopper bird feeder below, and it’s one of my favorite overall feeders. And it’s also great at stopping squirrels. 🙂
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Let me be clear: a weight-sensitive feeder WON’T stop starlings like a caged feeder. The hope is that you will slow down an entire flock of starlings.
For example, on the Absolute II feeder above, I can make the perches incredibly sensitive to weight, where only one medium-sized bird (like a starling) can feed at a time. As soon as a second starling tries to hop on the perch, the feeder closes.
I love this feeder because only ONE (maybe two) starlings can eat at a time. It’s great because a whole flock of starlings can’t sit there and wipe all of your food out in a sitting.
Upside-down suet feeders:
I thoroughly enjoy feeding suet to woodpeckers in my backyard. The problem is that starlings also LOVE eating suet.
One way around this is to purchase a suet feeder that forces birds to cling and feed upside down. Woodpeckers have no problem with this method, but starlings don’t particularly enjoy eating like this.
Birds Choice Upside-Down Suet Feeder View $ on Amazon
My upside-down suet feeder has done a great job of preventing starlings from devouring all my suet. It’s actually funny to watch the starlings try to eat the suet as they hop up and down, but they can only manage a bite at a time.
Lastly, just a warning that it may take some time for woodpeckers to discover your upside-down suet feeder. And overall, they definitely don’t like it as much as my other suet feeders.
#3. Discourage starlings from nesting in your backyard.
Starlings LOVE building nests around humans. That’s because these birds are cavity nesters and prefer using vents and other small openings around your house to build nests and raise their young.
For example, I live in a suburban neighborhood and commonly see starlings flying in and out of the vents located on the sides of almost every home.
Luckily, as a homeowner, it’s easy to prevent starlings from nesting in your vents. Simply seal any opening with a vent cover. Many are made specifically to keep birds out AND still function normally. Here are two options you can check out:
In addition, if you have any birdhouses or nest boxes in your yard, you must constantly monitor them for starlings!
As cavity nesters, starlings are naturally attracted to any nestbox in your backyard. To keep them away there are a few things you can do.
- First, select a nest box that has a hole diameter of less than 1.5 inches (3.8 cm). This hole size is too small for starlings to fit through.
- If your nest box is large enough for starlings, then it’s going to take active management on your behalf to ensure that they aren’t nesting inside. During spring and summer, my advice is to monitor your boxes daily and remove starling nests and eggs as soon as you see them. (Since European Starlings are invasive and not native to North America, they are not protected by The Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which means the humane destruction of nests and eggs is allowed.)
Many starlings prefer using the same nesting location year after year, so it’s vital to make sure they never start using your birdhouses!
Tip #4: Distract starlings using lots of CHEAP food!
Offer MASSIVE amounts of cracked corn positioned at least 15 feet away (4.5m) from your other bird feeders.
Learn more about the LIVE streaming cams in my backyard HERE!
I’m sorry if the above picture is hard to see, but I wanted to show my feeders filled with cracked corn placed behind and away from my other feeders.
This strategy has helped keep some of the starlings away from my main feeding station, which lets other birds enjoy the sunflower seeds, peanuts, and suet in a bit of peace.
Final thoughts about preventing starlings:
If you want to prevent starlings from coming to your bird feeders, I have found that these four effective strategies work:
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Offer foods that starlings don’t eat.
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Use starling-proof bird feeders.
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Eliminate potential starling nest locations.
- Distract starlings with a second feeding station.
If you have a big starling problem in your backyard, it may be best to combine strategies (that’s what I do)!
Well if you had seen them attack a baby bunny in my back yard, pecking his eye until he could no longer walk, he died, you might feel differently. Now they are dive bombing my deck because they know there is another baby and they want to kill it. Why? Because they are nasty aggressive birds that decide what territory they want. I hate these things and I’m all aboard the shooting them train but I’m in the suburbs. They also destroy crops! Oh and let’s not forget the fact that they carry nasty diseases and travel in packs pooping all over your yard. I’m really fed with them.
I’m not sure what’s a Starling and what’s a Grakle. All I know is they are both large black birds and are voracious eaters.. I’ve been feeding”Black oil Sunflower seeds exclusively but since these pesky “Blackbirds” have found them I can’t keep them in my feeders. I know you say Starlings can’t crack blackpool Sunflower seeds but these birds have no trouble at all with them. They also seem to love the peanuts in the shells. I am sick of constantly buying and filling my feeders with food only to have these darned birds gorge on it. Any suggestions? We love our little Wrens, Cardinals, Dove and Bluebirds, including the Jays and their peanuts but we’re at our wits end with the “Blackbirds”. How do we keep feeding all our other guests but eliminate the Blackbirds from the guestlist? Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
I’m finally fed up and started shooting them too, using a .177 air rifle. Using non-lead shot but also trying copper coated lead shot. This type of lead is not as bad as organic lead like from the old gasoline. The non-lead shot costs way too much $15 for 125 or something like that and I think it’s not as accurate. Still trying to figure all that out. Killed 4 so far. The other birds do not care at all. 3 seconds after killing the starling the other song bird already comes and starts eating. The starlings definitely understand what is going on, because they see the dead starling and immediately take off and any snap-like sound, they all take off while other birds don’t care. They are figuring out to stay away from those bird birdfeeders. I never shoot them in the grass or even if they are sitting on the pole of the feeder, only when they start getting at the food. They seem pretty smart for a bird. I think if I keep shooting them and others do too, I think natural selection will train them to stay away. They are already catching on to this, I’m telling you. There are no rules against killing them, you’re doing the government a favor by doing so. Had a female blue bird check out the dead starling for 20 seconds, then started eating bird food, I think she appreciated the sight. Btw. I don’t take any pleasure from this and I never hunted in my life and don’t kill anything but flies (and starlings). I’ll even take a spider outside and set it free there. I’m doing it for all the other birds, that’s why. Apparently starlings will kill other birds and take over their nest, plus they are very aggressive while all the other birds share and get long.
I totally agree with Sue. “if they make you SO ANGRY that you spend your days looking to cruelly trap/kill them (and brag about it), you need to just stop feeding birds altogether. ” i dont like starlings eating everyhing either, so i ration the food amounts.
What about your human neighbors…do you hate them too? if you only want to see certain birds, I suggest you buy some parakeets and cockatiels. Make a VERY LARGE pen in your living room and enjoy feeding them indoors. Close your curtains or blinds so you dont have to see anything in your yard. It is hatred like this that eventually expanded and has led to many mass murders of humans lately. I feel sorry for you.
I totally agree. i happen not to drink or smoke so each week I put $$ in a jar for extra bird seed. I am low income, but I buy mealworms on walmart com. i make sure the starlings are full of suet and seed. About 5 pm they are pretty well gone from yard. then i put out my sunflower seed and moistened mealworms. That gives the blue jays cardinals and woodpeckers a chance to eat.
i am 78. I remember my mother shaking a dish towel outside to scare away the starlings. One day my father told her, its wrong not to let them eat. God made ALL the birds and you are acting like they are worthless. He also made people different. Are you going to decide which of our neighbors eat tonight? After that she just put out extra seed. Some birds eat in the evening and she put out extra food after 5 pm.
“God” also made roaches, ticks, black widows, flies, pneumonia bacteria, and the aids virus… I don’t want any of those. Your reasons for supporting an invasive species seems like shallow selfishness rather than ACTUALLY supporting the delicate balance of nature that “God” intended.
First, God never intended European Starlings to exist outside of Europe. Second, it’s a big difference between an invasive species of bird and a human neighbor, whose eating habits I have no control over. Get a grip, lady.
Scott – I have 2 questions related to this. I switched to in-shell peanuts and a caged feeder for my mixed seed; I’m also using safflower instead of sunflower seed. All 3 options are working great to minimize all types of blackbirds at my feeders, so thank you! However, I do feel like it has also reduced other types of birds for me, especially fewer nuthatches, chickadees, and even cardinals. Do you think these birds don’t like/can’t handle my new setup? Maybe I have to choose between blackbirds and these others? Second – this might sound silly – but now that I’m using in-shell peanuts, I find that I have to sort through all of the peanuts when I want to refill the feeder. At least 1/2 of them haven’t been touched so I put them back in, but this is extra work and little gross to have to pick through the half-eaten shells. Is there a better way to handle in-shell peanuts? Thank you!
I had a rose breasted Grosbeak and an Oriole come to my feeder this morning. First time this year and within half an hour of each other. But Starlings scared them away. I need to get rid of them, or most of them before the other two leave for good. I will try all ideas listed
This is a follow up to my April 4th post on here. In just the last two days I’ve “dispatched” two more of those bothersome parasites (starlings) and I’ve released one chickadee from my “Van Ert trap” house in the past week. Things are going swimmingly.
I don’t have a problem with feeders, I have a pool with a cover and they come and bathe on the cover, starting droppings all over the place, if I take the cover off they drown, yesterday I scooped 2 dead ones out, how do I attract hawks? I need to get rid of these nuisance birds!!
Hi Jess, dealing with starlings is very frustrating. The caged feeders you have to make sure the cage is big enough that they can’t reach the seed when sticking head through that is the only thing that works. I got mine at wild birds unlimited. 😁👍
Sorry, we are in the Keys for the summer. You want a video of the contraption my husband put together with chip bag clips and washers? How can I upload a video?
I bought a van ert trap and installed it in a modified wood duck house. I caught two starlings the first week it was placed outside. I’ve also put “snap traps” (meant for rats or chipmunks) near an area that starlings tend to try to build nests every year. So far, in 2022, I’ve “dispatched” 5 of the ugly poopers caught in those. It’s now been over a week since any more have tried to move into either place.
I agree. I just bought a pellet gun too. Im using only non lead bullets so I can throw the vermin in the woods so a racoon, or raptor can get a meal. The birds are out of control and killing all our native songbirds. Im doing my part to get rid of as many as ai see.
I bought a caged feeder specifically for bluebirds. The Erva feeder is rather expensive, but worth every penny! It keeps the starlings & Robins out & allows my bluebirds to safely eat. In the long run, it has really saved me the cost of expensive mealworms.
You don’t need to be cruel but the starlings are starving out the native birds that need our help. Starlings are not suffering but the native birds are. I changed seed as recommended and the difference was fantastic. From 100’s of starlings and their buddies the blackbirds and brown headed cow birds I’ve gone down to a rare few. They come look around and leave. You don’t have to hurt them just don’t cater to them. Cowbirds BTW are parasitic like cuckoos.
Could you take a short video and post it? I am very much a visual learner lol….
Sorry I didn’t respond. We were on vacation in Barbados. My husband and I would never use magnets on a bird feeder! Thats foolish and expensive. Don’t you have a husband who is handy/creative? Mine used a potato chip bag clip and some old nuts and bolts tied with string…lol. Now he clips them on the actual cage not to interfere with the perch which creative a double blessing.. when the heavy birds (Starlings) hold of the cage, the cage comes down AND the bolts/nuts make a noise and scares them away. We are retired and my husband wants to patent his idea…lol..keeps him busy.
Some of us don’t have husbands!
My weighted bird feed filled with black oil and stripped sunflower seeds does well to keep the starlings away. However, this year I only put out my peanut metal house feeder for the squirrels and blue jays. Those evil starlings dont eat peanuts, but they still invaded my peanut house by climbing into it, taking a peanut out throwing it to the ground to try to eat which they cant because of the shell. They bully the blue jays away which I found totally astonishing, I cant believe the blue jays let them. The starlings know they cant eat the peanuts but they still insist on flocking and taking over the peanut house, until the squirrels show up. I have used just the air from a bb gun to scare them off, but I cant be out there all day shooting air. Makes me not want to put the peanut feeder out ever again which is a bummer for me since I enjoy the squirrels and blue jays.
Thank you! I wonder if I weight it for 3ish starlings if that would still allow my big red-headed and flicker woodpeckers to dine individually???? And, I’m switching to safflower and sunflowers!
I have the same hopper feeder and actually increased the weight sensitivity by adding magnets to the perch. I would watch and keep adding magnets until the starling triggered the hopper to close. Any platform feeders have the grey-striped sunflower only. Everything else is weight-sensitive or caged.
Hi, could you tell me what feeder you have and how to attached weights? I am so over the Starlings!!!!
I’m with you! They eat everything within minutes of putting out mealworms for the family of bluebirds in my backyard. This morning they covered my entire roof. What a mess. I don’t want to hurt them. I just can’t afford to keep feeding them.
I started feeding the little birds in the winter when we moved to Massachusetts last year. The Starlings flew in one day and decimated the feeders. We have weighted cage bird feeders and then one day my husband said we should add weight to the perch so the Starlings weight will close the cage. I wish I could upload a video because it worked!!! My husband kept clipping on a little more weight at a time until the Starling hung on the cage and the cage closed. The little birds are too light and I have seen 4 Chickadees at a time or two Cardinals without the cage closing. The Starlings come by from time to time but they are not rewarded with a treat.
That is such a clever idea, I want to see how you did that. I would love for you to join our Facebook Group, There you could upload the video and it would help so many others with there Starling problems. Here is the link. https://www.facebook.com/groups/3266562110284604/ I hope you can. I appreciate you letting us know, Thanks.