 In the United States , common starlings are exempt from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act , which prohibits the taking or killing of migratory birds . No permit is required to remove nests and eggs or kill juveniles or adults . Research was undertaken in 1966 to identify a suitable avicide that would both kill common starlings and would readily be eaten by them . It also needed to be of low toxicity to mammals and not likely to cause the death of pets that ate dead birds . The chemical that best fitted these criteria was DRC @-@ 1339 , now marketed as Starlicide . In 2008 , the United States government poisoned , shot or trapped 1 @.@ 7 million birds , the largest number of any nuisance species to be destroyed . In 2005 , the population in the United States was estimated at 140 million birds , around 45 % of the global total of 310 million . 
 In the United States , common starlings <a href='drop_aux' title='1'><mark>are</mark></a>exempt from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act , which <a href='uninflect' title='2'><mark>prohibits</mark></a> the taking or killing of migratory birds . No permit is required to remove nests and eggs or kill juveniles or adults . Research was undertaken in 1966 to identify a suitable avicide <a href='null_relcl' title='3'><mark>that</mark></a>would both kill common starlings and would readily be eaten by them . It also needed to be of low toxicity to mammals and not likely to cause the death of pets <a href='null_relcl' title='4'><mark>that</mark></a>ate dead birds . The chemical <a href='null_relcl' title='5'><mark>that</mark></a>best <a href='uninflect' title='6'><mark>fitted</mark></a> these criteria was DRC @-@ 1339 , now marketed as Starlicide . In 2008 , the United States government poisoned , shot or trapped 1 @.@ 7 million birds , the largest number of any nuisance species to be destroyed . In 2005 , the population in the United States was estimated at 140 million birds , around 45 % of the global total of 310 million . 
In the United States , common starlings exempt from da Migratory Bird Treaty Act , which prohibit the takin or killing of migratory birds . No permit is required to remove nests and eggs or kill juveniles or adults . Research was undertaken in 1966 to identify a suitable avicide would both kill common starlings and would readily be eaten by em . It also needed to b of low toxicity to mammals and not likely to cause the death of pets ate dead birds . The chemical best fit dese criteria was DRC @-@ 1339 , now marketed as Starlicide . In 2008 , the United States government poisoned , shot or trapped 1 @.@ 7 million birds , the largest number of any nuisance species to be destroyed . In 2005 , the population in the United States was estimated at 140 million birds , around 45 % of the global total of 310 million .