I've been wanting to post this for some time, and I figured I might as well do it today.
Should the bird flu come to America, the 3 greatest threats to it rapidly spreading are these 3 birds: the Starling, English Sparrow, and feral pigeons.
Why these birds? Because these THRIVE around humans. Should the virus come to America and mutate, these will be the biggest factor in it's spreading. Even if the virus doesn't come, hunting these birds is good for the local songbird population.
Info on the birds:
Starling-NOT native to the America's. It was introduced on the east coast in the late 1800's by an acclimatization society. Since then they have spread like wildfire. See
HERE for population maps.
-Easily identified. It has a short, stubby tail, a long beak, and when seen up close it has speckles accross it's body. In the summer it's beak is yellow and in the winter it is blue-black.
-It is NOT a cute helpless little creature. It is well known to take over bluebird and purple martin nests, as well as woodpeckers and other species of birds. It will get right in the nest, stab the nesting bird to death with its long sharp beak, break open the eggs and push them all out of the nest, then lay its own eggs.
-Not only are they killers, they also carry disease to crops and livestock.
-They thrive around small towns, big cities, and everywhere humans are "massed" together.
-It does not migrate.
See
HERE for more information on Starlings and the dangers they present.
See
HERE for excellent starling hunting methods.
English Sparrow-It is actually a Weaver Finch, and is not a songbird. Also known as the house sparrow.
-Like the Starling, it is NOT native to the America's. It was introduced in the 1850's.
-It is sometimes difficult to identify. The males have a black "tie", while the females look very similar to other sparrows. The females have a slightly yellow "dash" on each side of it's head, above the eye. It does not have any spots or speckles on it's breast.
-Like the starling, it is not a cute, helpless bird. Instead of killing nesting birds, the English Sparrow attacks and drives away bluebirds, chickadees, thrushes, wrens, robins and other songbirds, and then takes over the nest so it can lay its own eggs.
-It also is well known to carry disease to livestock and crops.
-It also Thrives around big cities and small towns, but also thrives around livestock farms, where they feed off the livestock feed(which is where they introduce diseases), and nest in barns and hedges.
-It does not migrate
See
HERE for more info on it as well as some identification tips.
For more identification tips, search google and google pics.
Feral Pidgeons-Not as common as the English Sparrow or Starling.
-Easy to identify.
-Thrives in cities and towns.
-Carries many human diseases.
Do NOT feed the pidgeons!Hunting Tips-To my knowledge it is legal to hunt these birds in all 50 states, although check the state laws before hunting them.
-Invest in an accurate pellet gun. Since these birds thrive in and around cities, it is often illegal to discharge a firearms in city limits.
-The best way I've found is to find a place close by a city or town that will give you permission to hunt.
-For English sparrow hunting, you can often take a drive around the country to both livestock and crop farms and offer your services to dispose of the pests. Some farmers prefer you to use a shot gun or peletgun over a .22 or .17 HMR or HM2.
- Suit cakes work excellent for both starlings and english sparrows.
-I've found shotguns work best, but the .22 LR and both .17 rimfires are fun to use, as well as an accurate pelletgun.
-I followed the method
here but use a bulletstop behind it since I hunt them near many homes. Often you can nail a bait station to a large tree, or put it infront of a dirt pile or a hill.
Good luck, have fun, and be safe!