It seemed to me that the lessons to be gleaned in terms of respect for life and compassion for other creatures outweighed any slight ecological impact the release of a few individual starlings might have. So I became a renegade rehabber and made a deal with the folks who brought starlings in: I’d tend the chicks on my own time while they were in the precarious nestling phase, then give them back to their young rescuers for final raising and release.
