The starling is a bird common in North Europe, North America and Asia. More than 100 species of starling are found in the Old World.
Starlings are the world's most abundant wild bird species with a population of 1,000 million.
Native to North Europe and Asia, in the 1890s an eccentric pharmacist named Eugene Schifflin hatched a plan to introduce every bird mentioned in Shakespeare's plays to New York's Central Park. The 200 million or more starlings now in the USA are descendants of the 80 released by Schifflin.
They gather in vast numbers – the largest recorded flock of starlings, in Norfolk, England in 1958, was 3 million.
In 1979 starlings were in such large numbers in London that they stopped Big Ben by landing on the hands.
The collective noun for starlings is a murmuration. The name may come from the sound their wings make when a vast cloud of them sweeps through the skies.
Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart once bought a starling, but when he brought it home he was astonished to hear it singing a fragment of his most recent piano concerto, which he hadn't yet published. The explanation was that the bird had picked it up on those few occasions when Mozart, an inveterate whistler, had popped into the shop.
Mozart grew very fond of his starling. When it died, he gave it a full funeral, with all the guests in solemn attire, and the composer recited a poem he had written specially for the occasion over its grave.
European starlings abhor making eye contact with other creatures or being watched through binoculars and camera lenses.
The starling's call is a bright whistle, but it also mimics the sounds of other birds.
Strikingly gregarious in feeding, flight, and roosting, the starling often becomes a pest in large cities.
Starlings are believed to cause $800 million of damage to U.S. agriculture each year as they binge-feed in cattle troughs.
A flock of starlings brought down a passenger aircraft in 1960, killing 62 people, when hundreds of their bodies were sucked into its engine shortly after take-off from Boston — the worst ‘bird strike' in aviation history.
The starling's black, speckled plumage is glossed with green and purple.
Starlings may get their name from the star-like white spots that appear on their feathers in winter.
The shortest-bodied species is Kenrick's starling (Poeoptera kenricki), at 15 centimetres (6 in).
The largest starling is the Nias hill myna (Gracula robusta). This species can measure up to 36 cm (14 in) and, in domestication they can weigh up to 400 g (14 oz).
Source Daily Mail
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| Thai starling Pixibay |
DISTRIBUTION
Starlings are the world's most abundant wild bird species with a population of 1,000 million.
Native to North Europe and Asia, in the 1890s an eccentric pharmacist named Eugene Schifflin hatched a plan to introduce every bird mentioned in Shakespeare's plays to New York's Central Park. The 200 million or more starlings now in the USA are descendants of the 80 released by Schifflin.
They gather in vast numbers – the largest recorded flock of starlings, in Norfolk, England in 1958, was 3 million.
In 1979 starlings were in such large numbers in London that they stopped Big Ben by landing on the hands.
The collective noun for starlings is a murmuration. The name may come from the sound their wings make when a vast cloud of them sweeps through the skies.
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| Murmuration of starlings preparing to roost, in Scotland. By Walter Baxter |
MOZART'S STARLING
Mozart grew very fond of his starling. When it died, he gave it a full funeral, with all the guests in solemn attire, and the composer recited a poem he had written specially for the occasion over its grave.
BEHAVIOR
The starling's call is a bright whistle, but it also mimics the sounds of other birds.
Strikingly gregarious in feeding, flight, and roosting, the starling often becomes a pest in large cities.
Starlings are believed to cause $800 million of damage to U.S. agriculture each year as they binge-feed in cattle troughs.
A flock of starlings brought down a passenger aircraft in 1960, killing 62 people, when hundreds of their bodies were sucked into its engine shortly after take-off from Boston — the worst ‘bird strike' in aviation history.
ANATOMY
The starling's black, speckled plumage is glossed with green and purple.
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| Common starling By Tim Felce (Airwolfhound) |
Starlings may get their name from the star-like white spots that appear on their feathers in winter.
The shortest-bodied species is Kenrick's starling (Poeoptera kenricki), at 15 centimetres (6 in).
The largest starling is the Nias hill myna (Gracula robusta). This species can measure up to 36 cm (14 in) and, in domestication they can weigh up to 400 g (14 oz).
Source Daily Mail
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