Springtime for Starlings

5/12 Back in Chico, Bidwell parks trees were alive with activity. I followed ash-throated flycatchers around for awhile but they gave no indication of breeding activity. A familiar short whistle signaled me as a phainopepla flew by. Bewick’s wrens and acorn woodpeckers were everywhere. But the sound that surrounded me on all sides were the demanding squeals of juvenile starling’s in their nest cavities. What an amazingly prolific bird this interloper is, filling the majority of the woodpecker holes in the gray pines above the five mile recreation area. Here an adult brings food to the constantly begging juvenile