They may look like harmless little birds, but they are anything but.
European starlings are an invasive species that feast on Okanagan fruit crops and threaten the livelihoods of local farmers, while reducing native bird populations.
Jim Talman owns a vineyard on the West Bench in Penticton and has experienced firsthand the ecological and economical destruction the starlings pose.
“One year I lost the entire crop,” he said. “The birds came in by the thousands and in just one afternoon, got everything.”
Talman now dedicates three day a week to help manage the bird population through the Starling Control Program, which is run by the BC Grape Growers’ Association.
“After the program started, the number of starlings has decreased quite a bit, and it’s just a big economic savings for everybody.”
Up to 40 traps are set up across the Okanagan Valley.
The birds are captured and then euthanized.
It’s an important program, according to fruit growers, to save their crops from costly damage.
“Presently grapes are about $50 million dollars’ worth of income in this valley so at 10 per cent of damage to the crops, that’s about $5 million dollars annually,” Tyrion Miskell with the BC Grapegrowers’ Association said.
Since the program’s inception in the Okanagan Valley in 2003, 750,000 birds have been trapped.
An estimated 50,000 birds are killed annually.
The program has an annual budget of $100,000 and it is partially funded through the three regional districts in the Okanagan.
It’s also helped to protect native bird populations.
“We’ve seen the bluebird population, the robin population disappear because the starlings actually go in and eat the eggs,” Miskell added.
The program has resulted in less use of propane cannons to scare off the birds, a noisy nuisance for some neighbours of orchards and vineyards.
But the practice doesn’t come without opposition.
“There are some people that are just ethically opposed to trapping and killing wildlife. This is considered an invasive species globally. We do have a license to do it,” Miskell said.
Some traps have been vandalized.
“A lot of people seem to feel the need to let the birds go because they’re in the traps, but they’re there for a reason,” Talman said.
Local growers say it’s the only effective way to heed the startling starling problem.
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