Carolina Wren - 1, Starlings - 0

In the winter, our little Carolina Wren loves to eat freeze-dried mealworms. She will pass up everything else just to get to those crunchy little treats. Unfortunately, since the ground is now frozen solid and covered in snow, our massive starling flocks (from the local night-time roost) have started showing up at the feeders. While the ground was soft, they were content to dig grubs and other invertebrates out of the earth and pass our feeders by, but now that the ground is frozen solid, the crunchy, protein-rich dried mealworms must be the next best thing to live grubs. Mealworms are the larval (or grub) stage of a beetle, so it only makes sense. When a daytime flock swoops in, the mealworms can disappear in minutes, and then our sweet little Carolina Wren is not happy...

"I'm not happy. Where are my well-deserved crunchy freeze-dried mealworms?"

"I've looked left...and I've looked right...but nary an amber-colored crunchy is to be seen!"

"...look harder little wren! I hid them to keep them safe for you..."

"...what's in here?"

"Mealworms! Hundreds of them, I tell you!"

"Now that's more like it!"

So far, the starlings have left the wicker birdhouse alone, and only the Carolina Wren has been brave enough to peer in and find what she was looking for. The birdhouse is only about 4 feet from the kitchen door, so that might be discouraging some of the birds. Our Carolina Wren, however, is never afraid! I'll let you know if this system continues to work...