FINCHforum

Amethyst starlings take a wide variety of food, including moths, katydids, spiders, snails and other invertebrates, tree frogs, lizards, carrion and a wide variety of fruits, buds and sprouts. Like most starlings, they are not above pillaging the nests of other birds, taking both nestlings and chicks.
That last bit is also what would worry me in a mixed aviary.

Rox wrote: NewTampanian Thanks for the feedback!

I've been looking into starlings, as I see them advertised occasionally here and they are beautiful. I'm honestly just a bit concerned about the sound, especially if there is a pair together. I guess the best would be to go to a breeder and see in person. I also agree that they need to be in an aviary only. I can't see them settling down into a flight cage.

I just think a pair of the Amethyst Starlings would look spectacular in my garden, lol!

The good thing abut starlings is that they blend in well with most of the other birds ( the noise they make that is) so having them I'm the backyard shouldn't be to difficult.

"Carion" Oh my

Wow, very nice!

NewTampanian - How are the birds doing? I recently acquired a pair of Amethyst Starlings. I'm hoping to breed them. They are in a six foot flight cage though vs a larger aviary like yours. They've settled down pretty well but are both molting currently.

Love the aviary great idea with the mulch/chipbark in bottom aviary

I like the mulch in the ground. I wanted to set my aviary on the ground but we have fire ants everywhere and theirs always snakes, mice, raccoons, foxes and stray cats in our backyard. I have to build my aviary on our old porch and it will have 1/4 wire on all sides. Even on the bottom of the cage.

With 1/4" wire, you keep out the mice and snakes. I just asked on FB about an outside aviary that had a mulch floor. They extended the sides down 12" to keep burrowing critters from coming up into the aviary from outside. Of course, a concrete floor serves that purpose too.

I miss my male Starling looking at these pictures... I have got to bite the bullet and order a male for my hen. But I need to sell some birds first...lol

I face constant temptations in the form of native, Chinese and African starlings in Indonesia.
The native species can be dirt cheap ($4 for Finch-billed Mynahs endemic to Sulawesi) while the African species are stunning.
However I have so far resisted tempation due to the space I think they'd deserve and the mess they'd create if fed properly.
I'd never, ever put starlings in a mixed aviary with small finches. I know someone who has a giant (large even for a zoo) aviary housing both finches and starlings, but no finches have ever bred there and small species do sometimes vanish without trace...

I believe that depends upon the species. My Amethyst pair were model citizens in the flight. I never witnessed any pushiness or aggression. In fact the finches bullied them some and in their previous home the tiny honeycreepers picked on and plucked them.

I have multiple species breeding in the flight with my Amethyst including Owls, Shaft-tails, Societies, Diamond Doves, Bourke Parakeets, and Button Quail.