Besides the danger to aviation, starlings also pass the spores of Histoplasmosis in their droppings. The fungus infects the soil under their roosts and after percolating for a year or two, dust from the soil passes the disease to humans. At Fort Knox, the starling roost was on the bridal path and so there was some concern about dust stirred up by horses. However, Histoplasmosis is endemic in the area; virtually everyone tested has a titre. Most may have hardly noticed a flu-like illness when they were infected; only rarely was the infection a serious health issue. So, I didn’t try bird control. In the spring, the flocks disperse naturally.

My colleague at Fort Campbell either had a bigger problem or pressure from above to act. His first attempt to kill the birds was a disaster. The technique is to wait for a cold night and spray the birds in their roost with a mixture of water and detergent. The idea is that the birds’ feathers lose their water repellancy and they freeze to death. Long story short, the night wasn’t cold enough and the birds meerly got a bath. It would have been a good idea to give up, but he tried again. “Success” this time and millions of birds died. The next morning, the Louisville paper had a front page photo of a starling coated in ice and frozen in place perched on a branch. It was the most pathetic looking bird you can imagine; heartwrenching – which is a pretty good trick for an invasive species with so much not to like about it.