Anyone try eating starlings?

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Kind of reminds me of carp. As a bowfisherman I'm always trying to think of uses for them. Now I give them to a local rancher who uses them in his compost pile to boost the protein yield, and to another guy whose pigs can't get enough of them. They say that carp is the best fish to use for smoking. You'd think that bird meat is just bird meat really and not much different from species to species. Some eat crow so maybe starlings are just a smaller version of same. My pari (buddies) eat the birds they shoot in the Philippines, so i'll post back once I get the courage to try it...

Hey-here you go--

http://www.zieak.com/2011/01/25/jimmy-stubers-starling-recipes/
 
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The thing about starlings is that they rarely are sitting still enough for a head shot, and they're one of those birds that bobs its head back and forth while foraging. The result is that we most often take chest shots.

There's not much meat in their chest, so even a .177 chest shot is going to blast a good amount of it.

I wouldn't compare them to rats, as their diet is mostly natural. Seeds and bugs, mostly. They're not eating garbage like urban/suburban pigeons, seagulls, rats, and raccoons do.

I would try it, but I'd expect it to not be worth the trouble of breasting them. I'd be more apt to eat rural pigeons, as they have big enough breasts to justify cleaning them. (and a good natural diet)
 
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A friend of mine married a Italian girl, she was 100% bat **** crazy. But man can she cook. Her parents grew up during WW2. They were visiting one time and we had a pasta and BBQ gathering. We're sitting around the fire pit and we started talking about hunting. Turns out meat was expensive and hard to get during and after the war. He said they would catch small birds, rodents whatever and his Mom would make soups with them or cook them whole! Funny thing, they thought it was disgusting to eat corn on the cob

So yeah, if your hungry enough.
 
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Right small eggs, too. would be good on crackers with ham salad maybe? I saw on one of the Facebook air gun pages that if they shoot a egg-laden female iguana in Puerto Rico, they boil the eggs too. Darn things lay some 70 eggs per clutch 3 times a year. More of them varmints than people a buddy down there says.
 
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"sscoyote"Interesting stuff. Hey Smaug, my wife's Filipino. We go over there every year now--love it! Especially the 50:1 exchange rate. Great airgunning + snorkeling there too.
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It's not great in China. They're airgun-hostile, and the stuff I'd WANT to buy there is more expensive. Household items, like bed linens, cleavers, woks... all that stuff is cheaper.

I wouldn't want to go snorkeling in the waters of China either; they've ruined their water (and air) supply with industrial pollution. I'll just go to the Philippines with you instead. ;) or maybe take a trip down to the islands for some iguana hunting, like Jim Chapman did that one time.
 
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I believe it's not that uncommon in Italy and surrounding countries to catch starlings with glue on a stick. Some ethical questions around that trapping method but it works. It is even a expression in Norwegian " to Walk/step on the stick with glue " (to walk in the trap, and be exposed). And yes the meat isn't that bad, tough I ate it pretty fried with a nice mushroom stew.
 
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During my military career I spent a lot of yrs in the Middle east, Asia, Micronesia and Africa. I really don't like Arachnids, but during survival training they were a source of protein along with grubs etc. so I have eaten from grubs to water buffalo to monkey and even camel and some things I don't want to know :) Doves don't really offer a lot of meat, but sure do make for some good eating. As mentioned it "depends on how hungry you are" and what the culinary customs are for that region of the world. 
 
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