JANUARY 2019 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


New trap set to reduce Okanagan


starling flocks Successful control program attracts overseas interest


by JACKIE PEARASE VERNON – The Okanagan


Similkameen Starling Control Program unleashed a new tool this winter to further reduce starling populations in the region.


A funnel trap is being used to capture starlings roosting in North Okanagan dairy barns, thanks to a three-year pilot program funded by the Investment Agriculture Foundation of British Columbia. “It’s to catch them where


they’re roosting. In the winter, the birds stick together more and they’re going into the barn for warmth. So we’re hoping to catch them in the barn,” says BC Grapegrowers' Association (BCGA) program administrator and starling control program coordinator Tyrion Miskell. “We hope to catch them in the winter and then they won’t be breeding in the spring and the populations in the summer when the fruit is ripening will be way lower. We’re really hoping that we put a big dent in the population through the winter.” Starlings are an economic


and environmental nuisance, causing considerable financial losses to the Okanagan’s fruit and grape industries and negatively impacting native bird species. They’re an aggressive breed that eats other birds’ eggs and does not make its own nest, pushing other birds out of their nests. “They’re pretty nasty,”


Miskell sums up. They tend to congregate


around dairy operations, feedlots and landfills. The program already uses a trap line throughout the year that catches the birds with considerable success. It has caught 850,000 since the program started in 2003, but the traps compete for attention with the birds’ other food sources. The new device won’t have competitors. “It would be a very good complement to the trap line. We’re not going to quit the trap line, that’s for sure, because that’s what we use to trap throughout the summer and the fall,” notes Miskell. Each ‘M’ trap used on the trap line catches about 200 birds every two days whereas the funnel trap has the potential to capture


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The funnel trap works by closing all windows and doors in the target barn, screening or netting all openings, gaps and holes to prevent escape from anywhere but the door where the trap is set up. “We prep the barn during


the day, the birds come in the evening, we close the doors on one end and then we have all this netting that will funnel them,” she explains. “So we force them down through this netting into the trap.” The process is somewhat


time-consuming, as each barn requires a different amount of screening. Species other than starlings must be removed and set free; the starlings are euthanized. The trap is an adapted


utility trailer, making it very portable, so the BCGA, which administers the program, is now seeking more barns in the Okanagan and Shuswap where the trap can be placed. The aim is to get six to 10 barns where the funnel trap is used twice annually, in the winter and following fall, to capture entire flocks at one time. “We’re hoping that we can get hundreds if not thousands. That’s what we hear from the farmers: that they get hundreds and


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An opportunistic menace to farmers, starlings are not native to BC. FILE PHOTO


hundreds of birds,” Miskell says. “So if we get 1,000 birds at one time, it’s completely worth it.”


While fruit growers and other farmers applaud the program’s success, Miskell stresses the importance of its continuation. Starlings are an invasive species and will re- populate the Okanagan within a few years if trapping ends. Less reliance on the use of


netting, noisemakers, streamers and propane cannons is a good sign that the program is working and welcome news to the non- farming public. Part of the program’s success is due to recent research that showed the birds are not coming from outside the Okanagan region, making control efforts more


effective, Miskell adds. That success is not always


replicable. A report prepared by the BC Blueberry Council in 2010 demonstrated that a trapping program would unlikely achieve a long-term reduction in starling populations in the Lower Mainland – but with starlings being a global problem, it is appealing. “We were just contacted


from a small grape-growing association in Australia who feel they are in a similar situation to us and they are


using our program as an example as to how to set up their own program,” Miskell says.


The Okanagan


Similkameen Starling Control Program receives annual funding from the regional districts of Okanagan- Similkameen, North Okanagan and Central Okanagan, and further contributions from the BCGA, BC Tree Fruits Cooperative, BC Fruit Growers’ Association, BC Cherry Association and North Okanagan Dairy Association.


Under the Terms of the Bylaws of the Association


Members are Directed to Take Notice of the 130th Annual General Meeting of the


BRITISH COLUMBIA FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION


February 12-13, 2019 At the PENTICTON RAMADA


TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2019 BUSINESS SESSION (1 PM–5 PM) • Annual Report of the Board of Directors; • Financial statements, budget, and any Special Resolutions; • Annual reports of subsidiaries: • BC Research and Development Orchard Ltd. • Summerland Varieties Corporation;


• Guest speakers and reports of industry organizations and companies; • Committee reports and resolutions for delegate consideration.


WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 2019 POLICY SESSION (8:30 AM–1:30 PM) • Guest speakers and reports of industry organizations & companies; • Special reports; • Committee reports and resolutions for delegate consideration; • Election of the BCFGA Executive at 1:30 pm


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SOCIAL - A Social will be held on Tuesday evening. All members and government and industry organization representatives are invited to attend the social from 6 – 8 pm on Tuesday, February 12 at the Pen- ticton Ramada.


All members and industry and government representatives welcome. Lunch provided on Wednesday.


BC FRUIT GROWERS’ ASSOCIATION office: 880 Vaughan Avenue, Kelowna, BC V1Y 7E4 250-762-5226 (T) www.bcfga.com


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