The Starlings of Palma

hundreds of thousands of starlings

Mallorca may be a great destination for bird watching and ornithology but sometimes there can be just too many birds in one place at the same time. Palma council has just started its annual campaign to keep hundreds of thousands of starlings out of the city centre.

The birds are at best noisy and at worst dirty, bombarding the whole area with droppings when they swarm every evening before settling in for the night.

The council are using methods old and new to discourage the pesky birds. Their operatives will be igniting fireworks to shock them away and they'll be backed up by trained hawks – natural predators of starlings – who'll go in on the command 'scramble, starlings at nine o'clock.'

Published 24 November 2009 Stephen White.