Starlings are not native the the US. They were imported by russiona imigrants in the last century. they ate 'em. They carried 'em ofver in little cages eventually the critters got out and ran amuk.
Last evening I was sitting out on the deck overlooking our south 40 enjoying a couple of woodpecker's antics in a tree. There was clearly a nest in a hole in the old elm tree.
Then darkness fell ( on the woodpeckers that is) starlings had clued in to the nest and eggs. They wre most predatory and sophisticated. They'd make advances to the nest the peckers would defend and then the starlings would set off a few feet and just wait while the peckers exhausted themselves with their defensive display. The peckers should have been using the gliom8ing of the evine for catching bugs but the starlings' assaults were preventing that.
Clearly the starlings wanted the woodpecker eggs.
Evening fell and the starlings went away leaving ghe tired hungry woodpeckers to their clutch of eggs.
In the morning when we rose, the woodpeckers had already suffered a total defeat and abandoned their dead nest. The starlings were casually loafing about the tree primping and gloating over their protein rich breakfast.
I was unaware of starlings as predators. Yet they cleary are very accomplished predators. I wonder how much a role these nasty little alien predators have played in the decline of the American songbords in general and how much of it has been laid at the feet of DDT and development and such.
If my new neighbors didn't have children I'd have taken a shotgun to the starlings.