First time I've noticed someone browsing at this vacant house. :-)
Look at Whom is Checking out The Birdhouse?
We do everything to keep those egg killers away, if it is a Starling
D
Oooh no! First it was the bad news of cowbirds, now starlings? Resin, can you help I.D.?
It's a starling. I have 4 that hang around here. If they can get to suet, they will eat every last bit in short order. But, they have weak feet and can't hang on too long. If you hang the suet feeders so they can't reach them from a limb, they won't get as much.
Cowbirds don't bother me that much. The males are actually rather handsome birds. We have the Brown-headed species here. They are mostly insect eaters and stay with cattle a lot, hence the name. They lay their eggs in the nests of other birds, but I've not heard of them destroying other birds eggs.
Thank you, RDretiree. I came out and inspected the birdhouse. There is evidence of some residences i.e. straws and nesting materials inside. How do I keep the Starlings away? Usually I've seen them in flocks, but didn't know they do venture out singly. Thanks.
Yep, Starling.
Find a metal plate with a 3cm diameter hole, that should exclude Starlings but still allow smaller birds in.
Resin
Cowbirds most often lay their eggs in nest of smaller songbirds. Then when they eggs hatch the cowbird being much larger and growing faster usually pushes the smaller chicks out of the nest. I had Chipping Sparrows raising cowbirds last year here.