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Common starlings are both monogamous and polygamous ; although broods are generally brought up by one male and one female , occasionally the pair may have an extra helper . Pairs may be part of a colony , in which case several other nests may occupy the same or nearby trees . Males may mate with a second female while the first is still on the nest . The reproductive success of the bird is poorer in the second nest than it is in the primary nest and is better when the male remains monogamous . |
= = = Breeding = = = |
Breeding takes place during the spring and summer . Following copulation , the female lays eggs on a daily basis over a period of several days . If an egg is lost during this time , she will lay another to replace it . There are normally four or five eggs that are ovoid in shape and pale blue or occasionally white , and they commonly have a glossy appearance . The colour of the eggs seems to have evolved through the relatively good visibility of blue at low light levels . The egg size is 26 @.@ 5 – 34 @.@ 5 mm ( 1 @.@ 04 – 1 @.@ 36 in ) in length and 20 @.@ 0 – 22 @.@ 5 mm ( 0 @.@ 79 – 0 @.@ 89 in ) in maximum diameter . |
Incubation lasts thirteen days , although the last egg laid may take 24 hours longer than the first to hatch . Both parents share the responsibility of brooding the eggs , but the female spends more time incubating them than does the male , and is the only parent to do so at night when the male returns to the communal roost . The young are born blind and naked . They develop light fluffy down within seven days of hatching and can see within nine days . Once the chicks are able to regulate their body temperature , about six days after hatching , the adults largely cease removing droppings from the nest . Prior to that , the fouling would wet both the chicks ' plumage and the nest material , thereby reducing their effectiveness as insulation and increasing the risk of chilling the hatchlings . Nestlings remain in the nest for three weeks , where they are fed continuously by both parents . Fledglings continue to be fed by their parents for another one or two weeks . A pair can raise up to three broods per year , frequently reusing and relining the same nest , although two broods is typical , or just one north of 48oN . Within two months , most juveniles will have moulted and gained their first basic plumage . They acquire their adult plumage the following year . As with other passerines , the nest is kept clean and the chicks ' faecal sacs are removed by the adults . |
Intraspecific brood parasites are common in common starling nests . Female " floaters " ( unpaired females during the breeding season ) present in colonies often lay eggs in another pair 's nest . Fledglings have also been reported to invade their own or neighbouring nests and evict a new brood . Common starling nests have a 48 % to 79 % rate of successful fledging , although only 20 % of nestlings survive to breeding age ; the adult survival rate is closer to 60 % . The average life span is about 2 – 3 years , with a longevity record of 22 yr 11 m . |
= = Predators and parasites = = |
A majority of starling predators are avian . The typical response of starling groups is to take flight , with a common sight being undulating flocks of starling flying high in quick and agile patterns . Their abilities in flight are seldom matched by birds of prey . Adult common starlings are hunted by hawks such as the northern goshawk ( Accipiter gentilis ) and Eurasian sparrowhawk ( Accipiter nisus ) , and falcons including the peregrine falcon ( Falco peregrinus ) , Eurasian hobby ( Falco subbuteo ) and common kestrel ( Falco tinnunculus ) . Slower raptors like black and red kites ( Milvus migrans & milvus ) , eastern imperial eagle ( Aquila heliaca ) , common buzzard ( Buteo buteo ) and Australasian harrier ( Circus approximans ) tend to take the more easily caught fledglings or juveniles . While perched in groups by night , they can be vulnerable to owls , including the little owl ( Athene noctua ) , long @-@ eared owl ( Asio otus ) , short @-@ eared owl ( Asio flammeus ) , barn owl ( Tyto alba ) , tawny owl ( Strix aluco ) and Eurasian eagle @-@ owl ( Bubo bubo ) . |
More than twenty species of hawk , owl and falcon are known to occasionally predate feral starlings in North America , though the most regular predators of adults are likely to be urban @-@ living peregrine falcons or merlins ( Falco columbarius ) . Common mynas ( Acridotheres tristis ) sometimes evict eggs , nestlings and adult common starlings from their nests , and the lesser honeyguide ( Indicator minor ) , a brood parasite , uses the common starling as a host . Starlings are more commonly the culprits rather than victims of nest eviction however , especially towards other starlings and woodpeckers . Nests can be raided by animals capable of climbing to them , such as stoats ( Mustela erminea ) , raccoons ( Procyon lotor ) and squirrels ( Sciurus spp . ) , and cats may catch the unwary . |
Common starlings are hosts to a wide range of parasites . A survey of three hundred common starlings from six US states found that all had at least one type of parasite ; 99 % had external fleas , mites or ticks , and 95 % carried internal parasites , mostly various types of worm . Blood @-@ sucking species leave their host when it dies , but other external parasites stay on the corpse . A bird with a deformed bill was heavily infested with Mallophaga lice , presumably due to its inability to remove vermin . |
The hen flea ( Ceratophyllus gallinae ) is the most common flea in their nests . The small , pale house @-@ sparrow flea C. fringillae , is also occasionally found there and probably arises from the habit of its main host of taking over the nests of other species . This flea does not occur in the US , even on house sparrows . Lice include Menacanthus eurystemus , Brueelia nebulosa and Stumidoecus sturni . Other arthropod parasites include Ixodes ticks and mites such as Analgopsis passerinus , Boydaia stumi , Dermanyssus gallinae , Ornithonyssus bursa , O. sylviarum , Proctophyllodes species , Pteronyssoides truncatus and Trouessartia rosteri . The hen mite D. gallinae is itself preyed upon by the predatory mite Androlaelaps casalis . The presence of this control on numbers of the parasitic species may explain why birds are prepared to reuse old nests . |
Flying insects that parasitise common starlings include the louse @-@ fly Omithomya nigricornis and the saprophagous fly Camus hemapterus . The latter species breaks off the feathers of its host and lives on the fats produced by growing plumage . Larvae of the moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella are nest scavengers , which feed on animal material such as faeces or dead nestlings . Protozoan blood parasites of the genus Haemoproteus have been found in common starlings , but a better known pest is the brilliant scarlet nematode Syngamus trachea . This worm moves from the lungs to the trachea and may cause its host to suffocate . In Britain , the rook and the common starling are the most infested wild birds . Other recorded internal parasites include the spiny @-@ headed worm Prosthorhynchus transverses . |
Common starlings may contract avian tuberculosis , avian malaria and retrovirus @-@ induced lymphomas . Captive starlings often accumulate excess iron in the liver , a condition that can be prevented by adding black tea @-@ leaves to the food . |
= = Distribution and habitat = = |
The global population of common starlings was estimated to be 310 million individuals in 2004 , occupying a total area of 8 @,@ 870 @,@ 000 km2 ( 3 @,@ 420 @,@ 000 sq mi ) . Widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere , the bird is native to Eurasia and is found throughout Europe , northern Africa ( from Morocco to Egypt ) , India ( mainly in the north but regularly extending further south and extending into the Maldives ) Nepal , the Middle East including Syria , Iran , and Iraq and north @-@ western China . |
Common starlings in the south and west of Europe and south of latitude 40oN are mainly resident , although other populations migrate from regions where the winter is harsh , the ground frozen and food scarce . Large numbers of birds from northern Europe , Russia and Ukraine migrate south westwards or south eastwards . In the autumn , when immigrants are arriving from eastern Europe , many of Britain 's common starlings are setting off for Iberia and North Africa . Other groups of birds are in passage across the country and the pathways of these different streams of bird may cross . Of the 15 @,@ 000 birds ringed as nestlings in Merseyside , England , individuals have been recovered at various times of year as far afield as Norway , Sweden , Finland , Russia , Ukraine , Poland , Germany and the Low Countries . Small numbers of common starling have sporadically been observed in Japan and Hong Kong but it is unclear from where these birds originated . In North America , northern populations have developed a migration pattern , vacating much of Canada in winter . Birds in the east of the country move southwards , and those from further west winter in the southwest of the US . |
Common starlings prefer urban or suburban areas where artificial structures and trees provide adequate nesting and roosting sites . Reedbeds are also favoured for roosting and the birds commonly feed in grassy areas such as farmland , grazing pastures , playing fields , golf courses and airfields where short grass makes foraging easy . They occasionally inhabit open forests and woodlands and are sometimes found in shrubby areas such as Australian heathland . Common starlings rarely inhabit dense , wet forests ( i.e. rainforests or wet sclerophyll forests ) but are found in coastal areas , where they nest and roost on cliffs and forage amongst seaweed . Their ability to adapt to a large variety of habitats has allowed them to disperse and establish themselves in diverse locations around the world resulting in a habitat range from coastal wetlands to alpine forests , from sea cliffs to mountain ranges 1 @,@ 900 m ( 6 @,@ 200 ft ) above sea level . |
= = = Introduced populations = = = |
The common starling has been introduced to and has successfully established itself in New Zealand , Australia , South Africa , North America , Fiji and several Caribbean islands . As a result , it has also been able to migrate to Thailand , Southeast Asia and New Guinea . |
= = = = South America = = = = |
Five individuals conveyed on a ship from England alighted near Lago de Maracaibo in Venezuela in November 1949 , but subsequently vanished . In 1987 , a small population of common starlings was observed nesting in gardens in the city of Buenos Aires . Since then , despite some initial attempts at eradication , the bird has been expanding its breeding range at an average rate of 7 @.@ 5 km ( 4 @.@ 7 mi ) per year , keeping within 30 km ( 19 mi ) of the Atlantic coast . In Argentina , the species makes use of a variety of natural and man @-@ made nesting sites , particularly woodpecker holes . |
= = = = Australia = = = = |
The common starling was introduced to Australia to consume insect pests of farm crops . Early settlers looked forward to their arrival , believing that common starlings were also important for the pollination of flax , a major agricultural product . Nest @-@ boxes for the newly released birds were placed on farms and near crops . The common starling was introduced to Melbourne in 1857 and Sydney two decades later . By the 1880s , established populations were present in the southeast of the country thanks to the work of acclimatisation committees . By the 1920s , common starlings were widespread throughout Victoria , Queensland and New South Wales , but by then they were considered to be pests . Although common starlings were first sighted in Albany , Western Australia in 1917 , they have been largely prevented from spreading to the state . The wide and arid Nullarbor Plain provides a natural barrier and control measures have been adopted that have killed 55 @,@ 000 birds over three decades . The common starling has also colonised Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island . |
= = = = New Zealand = = = = |
The early settlers in New Zealand cleared the bush and found their newly planted crops were invaded by hordes of caterpillars and other insects deprived of their previous food sources . Native birds were not habituated to living in close proximity to man so the common starling was introduced from Europe to control the pests . It was first brought over in 1862 by the Nelson Acclimatisation Society and other introductions followed . The birds soon became established and are now found all over the country including the subtropical Kermadec Islands to the north and the equally distant Macquarie Island far to the south . |
= = = = North America = = = = |
After two failed attempts , about 60 common starlings were released in 1890 into New York 's Central Park by Eugene Schieffelin . He was president of the American Acclimatization Society , which tried to introduce every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare into North America . About the same date , the Portland Song Bird Club released 35 pairs of common starlings in Portland , Oregon . These birds became established but disappeared around 1902 . Common starlings reappeared in the Pacific Northwest in the mid @-@ 1940s and these birds were probably descendants of the 1890 Central Park introduction . The original 60 birds have since swelled in number to 150 million , occupying an area extending from southern Canada and Alaska to Central America . |
= = = = Polynesia = = = = |
The common starling appears to have arrived in Fiji in 1925 on Ono @-@ i @-@ lau and Vatoa islands . It may have colonised from New Zealand via Raoul in the Kermadec Islands where it is abundant , that group being roughly equidistant between New Zealand and Fiji . Its spread in Fiji has been limited , and there are doubts about the population 's viability . Tonga was colonised at about the same date and the birds there have been slowly spreading north through the group . |
= = = = South Africa = = = = |
In South Africa , the common starling was introduced in 1897 by Cecil Rhodes . It spread slowly and by 1954 had reached Clanwilliam and Port Elizabeth . It is now common in the southern Cape region , thinning out northwards to the Johannesburg area . It is present in the Western Cape , the Eastern Cape and the Free State provinces of South Africa and lowland Lesotho , with occasional sightings in KwaZulu @-@ Natal , Gauteng and around the town of Oranjemund in Namibia . In Southern Africa populations appear to be resident and the bird is very much associated with man , his habitations and pastures . It favours irrigated land and is absent from regions where the ground is baked so dry that it cannot probe for insects . It may compete with native birds for crevice nesting sites but the indigenous species are probably more disadvantaged by destruction of their natural habitat than they are by inter @-@ specific competition . It breeds from September to December and outside the breeding season may congregate in large flocks , often roosting in reedbeds . It is the most common bird species in urban and agricultural areas . |
= = = = West Indies = = = = |
The common starling was introduced to Jamaica in 1903 , and the Bahamas and Cuba were colonised naturally from the US . This bird is fairly common but local in Jamaica , Grand Bahama and Bimini , and is rare in the rest of the Bahamas , eastern Cuba , the Cayman Islands , Puerto Rico and St. Croix . |
= = Status = = |
The global population of the common starling is estimated to be more than 310 million individuals and its numbers are not thought to be declining significantly , so the bird is classified by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being of least concern . It had shown a marked increase in numbers throughout Europe from the 19th century to around the 1950s and 60s . In about 1830 , S. v. vulgaris expanded its range in the British Isles , spreading into Ireland and areas of Scotland where it had formerly been absent , although S. v. zetlandicus was already present in Shetland and the Outer Hebrides . The common starling has bred in northern Sweden from 1850 and in Iceland from 1935 . The breeding range spread through southern France to northeastern Spain , and there were other range expansions particularly in Italy , Austria and Finland . It started breeding in Iberia in 1960 , while the spotless starling 's range had been expanding northward since the 1950s . The low rate of advance , about 4 @.@ 7 km ( 2 @.@ 9 mi ) per year for both species , is due to the suboptimal mountain and woodland terrain . Expansion has since slowed even further due to direct competition between the two similar species where they overlap in southwestern France and northwestern Spain . |
Major declines in populations have been observed from 1980 onward in Sweden , Finland , northern Russia ( Karelia ) and the Baltic States , and smaller declines in much of the rest of northern and central Europe . The bird has been adversely affected in these areas by intensive agriculture , and in several countries it has been red @-@ listed due to population declines of more than 50 % . Numbers dwindled in the United Kingdom by more than 80 % between 1966 and 2004 ; although populations in some areas such as Northern Ireland were stable or even increased , those in other areas , mainly England , declined even more sharply . The overall decline seems to be due to the low survival rate of young birds , which may be caused by changes in agricultural practices . The intensive farming methods used in northern Europe mean there is less pasture and meadow habitat available , and the supply of grassland invertebrates needed for the nestlings to thrive is correspondingly reduced . |
= = Relationship with humans = = |
= = = Benefits and problems = = = |
Since common starlings eat insect pests such as wireworms , they are considered beneficial in northern Eurasia , and this was one of the reasons given for introducing the birds elsewhere . Around 25 million nest boxes were erected for this species in the former Soviet Union , and common starlings were found to be effective in controlling the grass grub Costelytra zelandica in New Zealand . The original Australian introduction was facilitated by the provision of nest boxes to help this mainly insectivorous bird to breed successfully , and even in the US , where this is a pest species , the Department of Agriculture acknowledges that vast numbers of insects are consumed by common starlings . |
Common starlings introduced to areas such as Australia or North America , where other members of the genus are absent , may affect native species through competition for nest holes . In North America , chickadees , nuthatches , woodpeckers , purple martins and other swallows may be affected . In Australia , competitors for nesting sites include the crimson and eastern rosellas . For its role in the decline of local native species and the damages to agriculture , the common starling has been included in the IUCN List of the world 's 100 worst invasive species . |
Common starlings 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 . In eastern Australia , weeds like bridal creeper , blackberry and boneseed are thought to have been spread by common starlings . Agricultural damage in the US is estimated as costing about US $ 800 million annually . This bird is not considered to be as damaging to agriculture in South Africa as it is in the United States . |
The large size of flocks can also cause problems . 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 . There are a number of other infectious diseases that can potentially be transmitted by common starlings to humans , although the potential for the birds to spread infections may have been exaggerated . |
= = = Control = = = |
Because of the damage they do , there have been attempts to control the numbers of both native and introduced populations of common starlings . Within the natural breeding range , this may be affected by legislation . For example , in Spain , this is a species hunted commercially as a food item , and has a close season , whereas in France , it is classed as a pest , and the season in which it may be killed covers the greater part of the year . In the UK , the common starling may be killed at any time of year . This species is migratory , so birds involved in control measures may have come from a wide area and breeding populations may not be greatly affected . In Europe , the varying legislation and mobile populations mean that control attempts may have limited long @-@ term results . Non @-@ lethal techniques such as scaring with visual or auditory devices have only a temporary effect in any case . |
Huge urban roosts in cities can create problems due to the noise and mess made and the smell of the droppings . In 1949 , so many birds landed on the clock hands of London 's Big Ben that it stopped , leading to unsuccessful attempts to disrupt the roosts with netting , repellent chemical on the ledges and broadcasts of common starling alarm calls . An entire episode of The Goon Show in 1954 was a parody of the futile efforts to disrupt the large common starling roosts in central London . |
Where it is introduced , the common starling is unprotected by legislation , and extensive control plans may be initiated . Common starlings can be prevented from using nest boxes by ensuring that the access holes are smaller than the 1 @.@ 5 in ( 38 mm ) diameter they need , and the removal of perches discourages them from visiting bird feeders . |
Western Australia banned the import of common starlings in 1895 . New flocks arriving from the east are routinely shot , while the less cautious juveniles are trapped and netted . New methods are being developed , such as tagging one bird and tracking it back to establish where other members of the flock roost . Another technique is to analyse the DNA of Australian common starling populations to track where the migration from eastern to western Australia is occurring so that better preventive strategies can be used . By 2009 , only 300 common starlings were left in Western Australia , and the state committed a further A $ 400 @,@ 000 in that year to continue the eradication programme . |
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 science and culture = = = |
Common starlings may be kept as pets or as laboratory animals . Austrian ethologist Konrad Lorenz wrote of them in his book King Solomon 's Ring as " the poor man 's dog " and " something to love " , because nestlings are easily obtained from the wild and after careful hand rearing they are straightforward to look after . They adapt well to captivity , and thrive on a diet of standard bird feed and mealworms . Several birds may be kept in the same cage , and their inquisitiveness makes them easy to train or study . The only disadvantages are their messy and indiscriminate defecation habits and the need to take precautions against diseases that may be transmitted to humans . As a laboratory bird , the common starling is second in numbers only to the domestic pigeon . |
The common starling 's gift for mimicry has long been recognised . In the medieval Welsh Mabinogion , Branwen tamed a common starling , " taught it words " , and sent it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brothers , Bran and Manawydan , who then sailed from Wales to Ireland to rescue her . Pliny the Elder claimed that these birds could be taught to speak whole sentences in Latin and Greek , and in Henry IV , William Shakespeare had Hotspur declare " The king forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer . But I will find him when he is asleep , and in his ear I 'll holler ' Mortimer ! ' Nay I 'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer , and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion . " |
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 vocalisation . Other people who have owned common starlings report how adept they are at picking up phrases and expressions . The words have no meaning for the starling , so they often mix them up or use them on what to humans are inappropriate occasions in their songs . Their ability at mimicry is so great that strangers have looked in vain for the human they think they have just heard speak . |
Common starlings are trapped for food in some Mediterranean countries . The meat is tough and of low quality , so it is casseroled or made into pâté . One recipe said it should be stewed " until tender , however long that may be " . Even when correctly prepared , it may still be seen as an acquired taste . |