Starlings threatening Conn. berry crops

HARTFORD, Conn., Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Crops of blueberries in Connecticut are among a rising number of agriculture sites being targeted by groups of starlings, farmers say.

Sandy Rose, the co-owner of Rose's Berry Farm in Glastonbury, Conn., said she turned to falcons to help protect her crops from the small birds that can decimate a berry crop with their voracious appetites, The Boston Globe said Sunday.

Rose said using the predatory birds to scare away their smaller brethren became necessary as more traditional means like poison and noisemakers have been frowned upon by society.

"Everything we did, our neighbors did not like," Rose said.

But now thanks to Falcon Environmental, which also provides its services to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport, the starlings are under control, Rose told the Globe.

"It seemed to work. Last year they were controlled very well," the relived farmer said.