I am interested to know if anyone has spotted nest building Starlings nipping off pieces of Rosemary as building material?
Apparently they do this in order to prevent their nest being overrun by lice, clever, eh?
Both of the Rosemary bushes in my herb garden have been raided in this way and it has been am interesting process to watch. They ignore all the other herbs which seems odd, I like women over many centuries use a combination of Wormwood and Lavender to keep moths at bay and it really does work. Perhaps there is something about Rosemary that nest mites dislike, whatever the reason it does seem very effective as unlike most birds you seldom see Starlings with scruffy tattered feathers after few weeks of sitting on their eggs.
Someone should pass on this handy tip to nesting Blue Tits who suffer badly from the attentions of nest pests. Female Blue Tits in particular spend most of the Summer months with the appearance if being in moult.
Swallows too have problems with unwelcome guests with each bird hosting several strange flat bugs triangular in shape.
Although herb strewing is said to be common in Starlings I have only encountered this behaviour twice, so if anyone else has noticed the birds behaving in this way I should be glad to hear about it.
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