Hey Bob, I've watched several of your You tube videos on Starling shoots. Awesome stuff.... I've tried my FoxPro and it definitely gets their attention. But there is very little selection of calls. What would be ideal is the sound of several Starlings in a perch...
I have a starling call on my old e-caller. Usually i shoot one first and stick a wire hanger through it and stand it in the open. Then hit play. They go nuts and i can get a few more. But they learn quick and they dont come back.
Good feed back.. I've never tried using a dead one for decoy. Not a bad idea especially with a crow over it. I'll have to give that a try. I have some Starling decoys and I have a Starling distress call on my FoxPro. It also has Starling screams recorded on it. What would be perfect is the sound of a bunch in a roost. The distress definitely gets their attention but they are on high alert and very edgy...
I have some great starling sounds from one of my videos......they were going nuts in a barn when I was shooting pigeons. Too bad that couldn't be grabbed from the vid and put into an MP3 file.
I just go into my back yard and yell to the starlings,"hey Bob O's coming, jump on my shoulder and I'll tell him you're a parrot". It works nearly every time.
Not for a dedicated caller, but there are bird call apps for free in the google app store. I loaded them up on my old phone and use them with a bluetooth speaker set out in the yard. I think I have about 5 or 6 different arrangements from solo starlings to full group roosting. Has Hosps on there, also. Just enough of a curiosity to bring them close to the yard, but not so enticing to bring them in anymore. They caught on quick.
Cornell Ornithology has a nice library of calls, gets them interested but they are wary. Bluetooth from my phone to speaker, shooting from hyde is a must. Suckers are smart and give up after you get a couple, and always shoot the females first, paired male comes back and looks for her. I leave her lay and wait for him to come back and then get him. DAMHIK....
Find a nesting pair in a bird house and hange a rubber snake out the hole. Every bird of all kinds will come running to that. Don't shoot em off the bird house pick off ones on the fringe. Will get more and last longer doing that. But yeah the starlings will wise up quicker than most other birds.
I have used YouTube starling in distress call thru a Bluetooth speaker set out by a tree they land in and has wrkd well! Few yrs back I shot 1 and it was wedged in a branch up high hanging dead on a leafless tree, just about every single starling that flew by would land and check out ther buddy hanging ther allowing me extra opportunities to take them out!