Starstruck...the European Starling.#2
A European Starling in the backyard Garry oak tree...Such striking birds with beautiful patterns and iridescent colours!
Starlings turn from glossy and dark in summer to spotted and white in winter without shedding their feathers. The new feathers they grow in fall have bold white tips which gives them their spotty look. By spring, these spotted tips would have worn away with the rest of the feather being dark and iridescent brown...scientists term this seasonal change in plumage “wear molt.”
Starstruck...the European Starling.#2
A European Starling in the backyard Garry oak tree...Such striking birds with beautiful patterns and iridescent colours!
Starlings turn from glossy and dark in summer to spotted and white in winter without shedding their feathers. The new feathers they grow in fall have bold white tips which gives them their spotty look. By spring, these spotted tips would have worn away with the rest of the feather being dark and iridescent brown...scientists term this seasonal change in plumage “wear molt.”