Grackels & starlings

[dependable]

While not a pest to the bamboo, the group nesting of various blackbirds(according to bird book various species of the gregarious birds do flock together) can ruin the enjoyment of your yard. They will group nest in mature bamboo groves and in tree tops. They drive out and even kill other bird species in the area. They and their offspring make a sound similar to Mars Attacks(ack ack) creatures all summer long. Once they have chosen an area, they are likely to return year after year.

The Slim Whitman(I'm calling youuuu) song did not work, so I broke the nesting cycle by a constant harassment of the birds with bb gun, especially when they are beginning to build their nests. When they nest in the bamboo you can shake the culms and this discourages them. It has been a couple years since I drove them from my yard. The song birds are back. Still have to harass the blackbirds in the early spring and when they flock to my pond, but returning birds seem to know about the danger and are quick to warn others away. Other species of birds are either oblivious or they actually realize I am not targeting them.

[marcat]

For the Grackles a Falcon shaped kite will scare the heck out of them.
MarCat

[canadianplant]

I like the starlings. THe grackles make it sound like im in a jungle. Here is the way I see it. Remember the feild of dreams movie catch line? "If you build it, they will come". A strand of bamboo is heaven to birds. In reality if you dont want birds, you shouldnt have trees/large shrub cover, which they thrive in. THink of it this way. A store advertises "free groceries, while supplies last". THousands of people come to the store, only to be turned away by bb guns, horrible music, and water cannons (yes, I realize after writing the former, that its slightly dramatic lol)

You could try to attract the birds predators, or even blue jays (they mimic hawk sounds, and also attack nestling birds). Most birds are scared crapless of hawks, eagles and the like. Try attracting those (the kite method might actually work well, but Ive seen owl statues get destroyed by birds, that the statue was supposed to detur lol).

Birds are good to have around, since most of their diet is bugs. Even a hummingbirds diet is around half insects. They climb around tree trunks, picking bugs from the tree crevases, and in the branches. As long as the birds dont harm anything, a large bird population is GOOD.

Or, to have some fun, you could always take up Falconry

[dependable]

I like birds a lot, just not all the same kind. Once the blackbird swarm figured it was their rookery, they emptied out several oriole nests and even started attacking the cat birds. I watched this one evening to my dismay, over 50 blackbirds going on a rampage against the other birds in the yard. We do have red tails, kestrels, sometimes a goshawk, but they get attacked too by the blackbirds when there are enough of them.

The blackbird types can & do use my frog pond, but discouraging them during nesting season has made this yard way more interesting from a birder's point of view. By the way, I don't try to hit the birds when I shoot at them. Whacking a nearby branch or culm gets the job done.

I wouldn't mind using water cannon on some of the visiting people around here.

On another wildlife note, my bamboo stands seem to be hosting some of the increasingly rare and native spring peepers, a small tan tree frog that has a rather pleasing chorus.

[canadianplant]

Hey, its definitely not nice to see birds eaten or anything liek that. Ive seen crow take out starlings, falcons pick up squirrels etc. We have a large murder of crow around here, that has been bothered by 3 ravens. Its nature trying to work into a somewhat balance. Knowing your a "birder" makes things make more sence though . You want diversity of birds, rather then one large group of 2 species.

I didnt mean to insinuate that you shoot them. Sorry if thats how it sounded. One thing I do know about starlings inparticular, is that they hate crow, at least here.

Even better to hear about the frogs. Something else to munch on pests!