Common Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
The Common Starling - Sturnus vulgaris - also known as the European Starling, or in the British Isles just the Starling, is an incredibly common introduced bird, widespread in North America (originally brought into the country as part of a mad plan to introduce to the U.S. all birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare). Its native range is temperate Europe and western Asia, and it has been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, and Fiji. Though they do appear to consume insects that might feed on crops, for the most part this is a highly undesirable invasive species. In North America, they compete with chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, purple martins and other swallows for nesting cavities. They can eat and damage fruit in orchards such as grapes, peaches, olives, currants, and tomatoes or dig up newly sown grain and sprouting crops. They may also eat animal feed and distribute seeds through their droppings. Agricultural damage in the US is estimated as costing about US$800 million annually. The large size of flocks can also cause problems, particularly the very large flocks they form in late fall and winter. Common Starlings may be sucked into aircraft jet engines, one of the worst instances of this being an incident in Boston in 1960, when sixty-two people died after a turboprop airliner flew into a flock and plummeted into the sea at Winthrop Harbor. Starlings' droppings can contain the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, the cause of histoplasmosis in humans. At roosting sites this fungus can thrive in accumulated droppings. On a positive note, Mozart had a pet common starling which could sing part of his Piano Concerto in G Major (KV. 453). He had bought it from a shop after hearing it sing a phrase from a work he wrote six weeks previously, which had not yet been performed in public. He became very attached to the bird and arranged an elaborate funeral for it when it died three years later. It has been suggested that his A Musical Joke (K. 522) might be written in the comical, inconsequential style of a starling's vocalization. Starlings are distantly related to mockingbirds and Mynas, and will mimic other sounds. The ancient Romans taught them to mimic human speech. They are often heard sitting in a tree making a series of chirps, creaks, chatters, and rising whistles, and occasionally calls of other birds such as the killdeer, flicker, Wood Pewee, and crow. Starlings are chunky and blackbird-sized, but with short tails and long, slender beaks. In flight their wings are short and pointed, making them look rather like small, four-pointed stars (and giving them their name). en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_starling starlingtalk.com/mozart1.htm www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/estarling.htm www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/eurostarling.shtml#cit www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/id 20. Common Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
Common Starling - Sturnus vulgaris
The Common Starling - Sturnus vulgaris - also known as the European Starling, or in the British Isles just the Starling, is an incredibly common introduced bird, widespread in North America (originally brought into the country as part of a mad plan to introduce to the U.S. all birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare). Its native range is temperate Europe and western Asia, and it has been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa, and Fiji. Though they do appear to consume insects that might feed on crops, for the most part this is a highly undesirable invasive species. In North America, they compete with chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, purple martins and other swallows for nesting cavities. They can eat and damage fruit in orchards such as grapes, peaches, olives, currants, and tomatoes or dig up newly sown grain and sprouting crops. They may also eat animal feed and distribute seeds through their droppings. Agricultural damage in the US is estimated as costing about US$800 million annually. The large size of flocks can also cause problems, particularly the very large flocks they form in late fall and winter. Common Starlings may be sucked into aircraft jet engines, one of the worst instances of this being an incident in Boston in 1960, when sixty-two people died after a turboprop airliner flew into a flock and plummeted into the sea at Winthrop Harbor. Starlings' droppings can contain the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, the cause of histoplasmosis in humans. At roosting sites this fungus can thrive in accumulated droppings. On a positive note, Mozart had a pet common starling which could sing part of his Piano Concerto in G Major (KV. 453). He had bought it from a shop after hearing it sing a phrase from a work he wrote six weeks previously, which had not yet been performed in public. He became very attached to the bird and arranged an elaborate funeral for it when it died three years later. It has been suggested that his A Musical Joke (K. 522) might be written in the comical, inconsequential style of a starling's vocalization. Starlings are distantly related to mockingbirds and Mynas, and will mimic other sounds. The ancient Romans taught them to mimic human speech. They are often heard sitting in a tree making a series of chirps, creaks, chatters, and rising whistles, and occasionally calls of other birds such as the killdeer, flicker, Wood Pewee, and crow. Starlings are chunky and blackbird-sized, but with short tails and long, slender beaks. In flight their wings are short and pointed, making them look rather like small, four-pointed stars (and giving them their name). en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_starling starlingtalk.com/mozart1.htm www.wbu.com/chipperwoods/photos/estarling.htm www.invasivespeciesinfo.gov/animals/eurostarling.shtml#cit www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/id 20. Common Starling - Sturnus vulgaris