Do starlings bite?

[Taxlave]

I know this is probably a stupid question, but I have an adult starling in my Blaine's trap and before I make the mistake I did with a cardinal, I was wondering if starlings bite hard? I can tell you from personal experience that cardinals bite REALLY hard.

[Louise Chambers]

yes, any bird, including a martin, will peck at you if frightened. wear gloves and use a plastic bag to grab the bird.

[DakotaLady]

LMAO Taxlave,

I take it you and the cardinal did NOT get along. ha ha. I always wear heavy, leather gloves when handling birds but I've felt some of them thru my glove if those starlings get the chance to bite.

Good luck removing your starling.

[Emil Pampell-Tx]

I don't use gloves, but I grab their body and squeeze hard, they are struggling to breath, so they are not thinking about biting. Actually, I never remember being bitten, maybe I'm too rough on them...smile

[Thurman Seber~TN]

While a cardinal has a beak for crushing seed., a starlings beak is more designed for worms. Yes, they may bite, but they have never injured, or even hurt me...smile..and I have killed quite a few by hand

[Chriscreole]

Here ya go Taxlave, Just couldn't resist... LOL sorry...

When Sparrows ATTACK!

[Taxlave]

Chris, that is the greatest PS I've seen! Now, I'm LMAO!! I think I'll use that for my Facebook profile

Just to update, I removed a male cardinal from the trap that drew blood-yes, I was stupid to just grab him, but I'd been grabbing sparrows from the Spar-O-Door without much pain or problems. I used a glove to remove a female cardinal and she hung on to the glove for ~20 seconds even after she was out of the trap. I was glad she only had the glove and not one of my fingers! Anyway, used a glove to remove the starling and it didn't even attempt to bite. It's "gone home", now.

Thanks to all for the responses!

[Tim Stover]

know what you mean ive been bit by a cardinal they do have a mean punch i empty starlings with red ryder bb gun one shot to the head

[Taxlave]

DakotaLady, I love my cardinals, but those little buggers bite like a hookbill. I only made that mistake once, but I paid for it-pulled back a bloody stump, almost I haven't had to handle a live adult starling and was a tad concerned about losing another limb I hate it when my cardinals get in the trap, but I'm VERY careful about removing them...I'm glad owls or hawks to get in the trap

[KathyF]

LMAO is right! I was fortunate to read a warning on this forum about wearing gloves when removing cardinals. Glad I did - he held on like a ninja too!

When I used to use the universal trap in my housing, the starlings would try to stab me through the wire mesh. I would wait til he stuck his beak through, then grab it and hold him there while I untied the door. That'll teach him to try to stab me!

Chris - that is really, really funny! I imagine that's what a HOSP looks like to a bluebird or tree swallow, unfortunately. Off with their heads!