Date: 4/23/25 2:22 pm From: Daniel Getman <000002b3a133f539-dmarc-request...> Subject: FOY Great Crested Flycatcher
Today we had our First of the Year Great Crested Flycatcher show up in the late afternoon. It’s already calling around the immediate backyard, where there’s a nestbox they successfully used last year.
Photos can be viewed at:
flickr.com/photos/dgetman/sets
Unfortunately, the starlings had recently claimed that box and I closed it up yesterday. I’ll wait a couple more days, then open it again. Hopefully the starlings will have given up and the Flycatchers can prevail.
Starlings sure make it difficult for our native birds. I wonder if anyone ever measured the negative impact on native cavity-nesting birds after starlings were introduced in the NYC area and then migrated west.
To give you an idea of the issue, the last 3 years, I’ve trapped > 50 starlings each year. Those larger black holes in these nest boxes are like a magnet for them and they just keep coming. Very frustrating.
Dan Getman, Kirksville, northeast MO
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