• Geobirds Local
• Identify Birds
• Birding Resources

Photo credit: Jean-Guy Dallaire

European Starling (Summer)

Click for explorable range maps

The European Starling or Common Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, is a passerine bird in the family Sturnidae.

This starling is native to most of Eurasia, but has been introduced to South Africa, North America, Australia and New Zealand.

It is resident in southern and western Europe, but northern and eastern populations migrate in winter to these regions, and also further south to areas where it does not breed in Iberia and north Africa.

The Starling lives in a variety of habitats and can be found in any reasonably open environment from farmland to salt marsh.

These birds will eat almost anything, including farmland invertebrates and berries. This is a highly gregarious species, forming huge flocks in winter, and providing a spectacular sight and sound as they descend into evening reed-bed roosts, often attracting birds of prey such as Merlins or Sparrowhawks. Large roosts (exceptionally up to a million birds) can form in city centres, causing a great deal of mess from their droppings.

The 19-22 cm long European Starling must be one of the most familiar of birds in temperate regions, with its shiny black plumage spangled with white. Confusion is only likely in Iberia in winter, when it has to be distinguished from the closely related Spotless Starling, which, as its name implies, has less spotting on its plumage. Adult male European Starlings are less spotted below than adult females. Juveniles are dull brown, and by their first winter resemble adults but are browner especially on the head.

Starlings walk rather than hop. Their flight is quite strong and direct; they look triangular-winged and short-tailed in flight. In most of Europe, only the rarer and much paler Bohemian Waxwing shares this flight profile. This is a noisy bird, and a good mimic, like many of its family. In captivity, Starlings will learn to imitate all types of sounds and speech earning them the nickname "Poor-man's Myna".

The European Starling has been adversely affected by intensive agriculture, and in countries like the UK it has been red-listed since its numbers are falling, although it remains a widespread and very common species.

There are two subspecies of the European Starling. The Shetland Starling, S. vulgaris subsp. zetlandicus is slightly larger than the nominate S. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris, and is found in Shetland, Fair Isle and the Western Isles.The Faroese Starling, S. vulgaris subsp. faroeensis is the largest (European) variant of the starling. The winter adult is black with blue shades, which become green in the summer. This subspecies is only found in the Faroe islands.

Originally the Starlings of Scotland and England were similar to those of the European mainland, but they died out in Scotland before 1800 and became rare in England. A hundred years later, around 1900, S. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris, recolonised from Europe, and since about 1940 this subspecies has spread to Iceland, where there are today thriving colonies in both East and West Iceland. S. vulgaris subsp. vulgaris is occasionally seen in the Faroes too.

Introduced populations

This adaptable and omnivorous species is considered to be a pest in several the countries to which it has been introduced. The European Starling is a hole-nesting species, and has impacted on native species where it has been introduced because of competition for nest sites.

In Western Australia, which is Starling-free, the government pays full-time hunters to patrol the border and shoot Starlings as they arrive.

Although there are approximately 200 million starlings in North America, they are all descendants of approximately 60 birds released in Central Park, New York, by Eugene Schieffelin, who headed an acclimatization society trying to introduce to North America every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare.

The descendents of these Starlings have created mayhem in North America. Many species are losing nesting sites to the more aggressive Starlings. Starlings will also sometimes drive off native birds, including the bluebirds (Sialia spp.), the Purple Martin (Progne subis), Tree Swallows (Iridoprocne bicolor), and some of the smaller species of woodpecker. They have even been observed taking over the nests of house sparrows, another introduced species.

A century after their introduction they have contributed to the decline of all of the above, multiplying rapidly, and can now be found throughout North America and Alaska to the point of overpopulation.

These birds pose enough of a threat to songbirds that it is legal to kill Starlings at any time in the U.S. and Canada, and a bounty may be paid. It is also a common practice where possible to set up nest boxes in backyards and wooded areas for native species to give them a chance, and to destroy Starling nests.

External links

{{Commons|Category:Sturnus vulgaris}}
*ARKive - images and movies of the European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
*RSPB
*BBC
*Cornell University
*Starling Central - Information on the care of Starlings and recordings of a Starling talking
* BBC dawn chorus Sample of the starling's song

{{Link FA|he}}