Shooting Starlings in backyard Marion County

[oregon1981]

Hi, I have a starling issue this year. They have nested in my neighbors tree and are eating all our bird food and messing with the song birds in our yard. I have a whisper gamo and have a good clean shot if I was to get them when on our feeder. The feeder is maybe 3 feet off ground so if I missed I'd be hitting dirt, not our fence or anything past property.

Main question, what are your thoughts or concerns with firing in my back yard in Marion county? Not concerned about my neighbors. More concerned with the county…

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[kmk1012]

Are you in city limits?

 

[kmk1012]

I think those things are rats with wings, they try to eat all of our cherries and blueberry's every year. Last year we didn't get but a few pounds of cherries off of three trees, blueberry's even less. I'm not in Marion co but in a much more 2a friendly county of Linn. I may know a guy who uses these things as target practice. I used to enjoy sage rat shooting but have been absolutely skunked the last five plus years, these sh!t birds are almost as fun though.

 

[Helocat]

In Yamhill Co. I had a flock of them like 30+ fly into my business open bay door. Suckers would not leave and day 2 they started dying of lead poison. Brake action .177 air rifle with a suppressor. Crazy thing was one would land on a perling, take a hit and flop over dead. 4 more would then land next to it thinking it was safe. Soon there was one pile of the things on the perling. One crazy head shot left one standing upright on a support beam, but no head. It fell over about 5min after taking the hit. Kind of like shooting pool, that last few were a trick to get but did get them all.

 

[JohnnyMac]

Little bastages do a number on my figs every year so they get a little copper (BB) infusion. As @kmk1012 noted, they are the rats of the bird realm and if I were your neighbor, I'd buy the pellets for you.

 

[oregon1981]

It seems to have gotten a lot worse in Salem this year. They piss me off almost as much as Ferrell cats sh!tting in my planters.
I live in city limits yes….

 

[Yarome]

Are you in city limits?

That's the $100 question. "Where" in Marion County?

 

[Yarome]

I live in city limits yes….

In that case, it's a no-go. If you're anywhere near the edges you might double check the map, though. City limit lines are crazy. Traveling in a straight line from town you can cross in and out of "Salem" mulitple times... and some areas... one side of the street is "Marion County" and the further out side might be "Salem" again.

That's getting legally murky though and would still cause you headaches if it's still within the same established residential area. City or County be damned.

The 3 S's might apply with a sound suppressed concealed airgun, but that's a personal choice.

 

[Frank RW]

Use heavy ammo, helps keep the report down. If that's a .177, 10.5gr crosman domed ultra magnum work great in mine. for .22 i'd go 18gr JSB or H&N.

 

[Yarome]

They seem to be allergic to .25, too.

 

[American123]

On my own property, with a safe backdrop, I wouldn't even think twice so long as you are not advertising what you are doing and being obvious about it.

 

[TTSX]

Shoot, shovel, shut up. Shouldn't have even posted to forums.

Obviously, I'm not saying you SHOULD do that, just that you COULD

 

[titsonritz]

I live in city limits yes….

It that case it is illegal, proceed accordingly.

 

[OldBroad44]

Starlings are an invasive species and major agricultural pest. State law lists them as unprotected, meaning they can be shot, trapped, etc. Among other things they ruin huge amounts of fruit because they would rather take one bite out of 40 different plums instead of 40 bites out of one. If I were your neighbor and I saw you shooting starlings I'd make sure to thank you for your service to the community.

If you are in a city there is likely to be a law about discharging firearms. And counties can have laws about discharging guns within a specified distance of someone else's house. Is this a silenced firearm or a pellet gun? If a pellet gun the laws about discharging firearms may not apply.

Apparently you don't expect neighbors to see or hear you, or projectiles to leave property. If its a firearm I'd avoid breaking any laws, even if the penalty is only a misdemeanor and trivial fine, as it may count as misuse of a firearm, which could cost you your Oregon CHP now or in the future. I would avoid breaking that law even if the only penalty was a misdemeanor that is not one that currently affects concealed permits, as that list can change and expand without notice.

If the objective is primarily to get rid of the birds rather than also recreational shooting , trapping might be more efficient. Especially if you build the trap around your bird feeder and can set it off from inside the house.

Slingshots can also be used to shoot pests ...

 

[Tlock]

I've had very good success trapping them!

 

[RicInOR]

Are you inside an Urban Growth Boundary? then any shots are unlawful.


Do verify dates for accurate maps

https://temp.cityofsalem.net/CityDocuments/salem-urban-growth-boundary-map.pdf

 

[P7M13]

If your feeder is only three feet off the ground, I'd also watch for rats at night. They are even more ravenous than starlings, especially with the black oil sunflower.

 

[Mikej]

Starlings! Quick story. I feed birds. It's about a $60.00 a month habit. Some years ago the starlings were doing their yearly thing with their young, making those horrible noises they do at that time of year. They were scrounging anything they could under my feeders. That includes decimating a $5.00 suet cake. I had shot one off a feeder and was out inspecting the body. I heard something above me up in the tree. At the same time I saw that young starling, the damned thing took a crap that went directly on my open eye! SON of a BI%&*!!! It was all warm and disgusting as hell! Oooo, I hate starlings!

Something that I find incredibly entertaining is seeing a crow, if your lucky, going after an injured starling that you have only wounded. My crow family, this is their fourth year with us, barely blink when I shoot through the partially open front storm door. Seeing those crow sic on the limping starling and beat the crap out of it and eat part of it is great!

 

[Mikej]

Did I mention? I hate starlings!

 

[OldBroad44]

Starlings! Quick story. I feed birds. It's about a $60.00 a month habit. Some years ago the starlings were doing their yearly thing with their young, making those horrible noises they do at that time of year. They were scrounging anything they could under my feeders. That includes decimating a $5.00 suet cake. I had shot one off a feeder and was out inspecting the body. I heard something above me up in the tree. At the same time I saw that young starling, the damned thing took a crap that went directly on my open eye! SON of a BI%&*!!! It was all warm and disgusting as hell! Oooo, I hate starlings!

Something that I find incredibly entertaining is seeing a crow, if your lucky, going after an injured starling that you have only wounded. My crow family, this is their fourth year with us, barely blink when I shoot through the partially open front storm door. Seeing those crow sic on the limping starling and beat the crap out of it and eat part of it is great!

Crows are smart. Probably smart enough to figure out you shoot starlings but not crows. If you shoot a crow and leave it on the ground crows are likely to stay away for a year or two. They will also remember you're the evil guy who shoots crows, and give alarm calls when they see you. Young crows will learn you are an evil crow killer from other crows even if they never saw you kill a crow or saw any dead crows. Interesting university study showed the crows recognized individual human faces too, so can distinguish evil crow killing humans from other humans.