The UK's Finest Independent Forum for Shooters and Gun Owners. Est 2010.

Starlings are an extreme threat to Western Australian agriculture, environment and community. They are listed as one of the world's worst invasive alien species.

They have the potential to establish wild populations in Western Australia's primary production regions. This major bird pest gorges on cultivated grain and horticulture crops (particularly grapes and olives), fouling wool, competing with stock for feed and spreading diseases.

Starlings can damage buildings, vehicles, fences, roads or equipment by pollution with droppings or nesting material, and are excessively noisy at their roosting sites. Where large flocks of starlings roost at night the weight of birds and volume of droppings flatten reed-beds and cause damage to trees and other vegetation and can result in complete destruction of the plant life. Starlings plunder the nests of our native birds.

PRUE ADAMS: Starlings have traditionally been a problem of eastern Australia. But in 1971, small numbers arrived in the west. A few years later, a team of trappers and shooters was based on the remote Nullarbor Plain at the border of South Australia and Western Australia to stop the spread of the birds.

REPORTER: For six years, they've been patrolling a 300km-wide section of desert that straddles the border. It's all part of a $100,000 a year hunt for the common starling. [END EXCERPT]

ANDREW WOOLNOUGH, WA DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE: The border patrol has been very successful in stopping birds coming into Western Australia.

SHOOTER: We'd prefer to use natural cover, than hides we make ourselves.

ANDREW WOOLNOUGH: Since 1975, they've taken out over 50,000 birds and stopped them coming into Western Australia.

PRUE ADAMS: Despite the bizarre but effective border patrol, two populations of starlings have established themselves near Esperance. Been tracking them at Munglinup, which is about 80 kilometres west of Esperance.

Watcher wrote:We may have seen this before: http://vimeo.com/31158841

christel wrote:Sandgroper, so the starling is a pest in AU, here it is on the endangered list. At least I still think it is.

They do create a lot of damage, lovely to watch though.