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| European Starling in Summer |
•Since its introduction into North America, European Starling populations have grown to over 200 million birds and they can now be found coast to coast and in Alaska.
•When European Starlings molt their feathers in the fall, the new feathers have white tips, giving the appearance of “stars”. Over the winter, sunlight and weather dulls the speckled look as the tips wear off and the bird becomes uniform dark brown or black.
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| European Starling in winter |
•European Starlings have a highly adaptable diet and eat a wide variety of foods, such as snails, worms, millipedes, and spiders, in addition to fruits, berries, grains, and seeds.
•To glean insects and invertebrates, you can watch starlings poking their beaks into the ground, opening wide to spread the soil and then picking out exposed larvae and earthworms.
• Baby starlings almost look like a different species. They are a dark gray and then start to grow a black and white spotted vest. Eventually they get their adult feathers before winter.
 Image via Wikipedia |
| Juvenile European Starling |
•Starlings, as members of the Sturnidae family, are cousins to the Mynah bird and are outstanding mimics. Individuals have been known to mimic many calls and can even mimic human speech.
•Bird banding records show the longest known life-span for a Starling in North America to be over 15 years old.
• A group of starlings has many collective nouns, including a "constellation", "filth", "murmuration", "scourge", and "vulgarity" of starlings.
I have finally identified 3 European starlings who showed up at my suet feeders this week. I thought they were baby crows but they had beige beaks, orange legs and black and white speckled feathers. There is no doubt whatsoever that these are European starlings as all 3 just came to visit again and I got a really good look at them in the sunlight. These 3 cuties have voracious appetites and are going crazy for the sunflower and peanut woodpecker suet. I've been bird watching for over 50 years and this is the first time I have seen these birds. I live in a northern suburb of Atlanta and have a bird feeding station on my 4th floor apartment patio. I have seen over 30 different types of birds visit my feeding station in the last 10 years here. I even have a very large male crow who visits me several times a day for healthy snacks and brings his mate and fledglings in the spring. He loves the peanut butter, unsalted peanuts and raisins I put out. I also give him golf ball size raw hamburger "meatballs" and cooked chicken (no salt!), fresh fruit, muesli, hard boiled eggs (he only eats the yolks). Last year Blackjack brought me a love gift of a strawberry and placed it on the middle of my patio railing exactly where I leave his snacks. He definitely wanted to make sure that I saw/got my gift from him. He has a sweet tooth, I occasionally will give him half a shortbread cookie which he loves. He loved the occasional Snickerdoodle last Christmas. So I know "Mr. Sweet Beak" really prized that juicy red strawberry but chose to give it to me, which I find extremely touching. Crows are very loving, affectionate, super intelligent and thoughtful birds.Thank you for helping me identify the 3 European starlings today and Happy Birding everyone!
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DeleteI live in Fort Myers Florida and saw my first European starling today April 27th 2019. Denise, I loved your little story.
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