Everything You Need to Know About Eurasian Starlings

by NINGLiya on Jan 29, 2025
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    Introduction

    The Eurasian starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a chordate sparrow of the starling family. Also known as starlings, blue feathers, glossy, with milky white spots, small mouth with yellow, eyes close to the root of the mouth, good warmth, often gregarious, eat the fruits or seeds of plants. The wings are pointed, and the tail is short and characterized by a flat tail shape.

    The starling is a very beautiful bird and an insect eater. It is distributed in Eurasia and northern Africa (including the whole Europe, Africa to the north of the Tropic of Cancer, the Arabian Peninsula, and Asia to the north of the Himalayas-Hengduan, Mountains-Minshan-Qinling-Huaihe), the Indian subcontinent and Southwest China (including India, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sikkim, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Maldives and the southeastern part of China 's Tibet). Due to the introduction of human beings, North America is now often seen. They are well adapted to human development and can be seen in both rural and urban environments.

    European Starling Identification, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of  Ornithology

    Starlings play a valuable ecological function in the grasslands, forests and marshes where they live. They are not only exceptionally smart, but also extremely talented in imitation. Mozart once taught starlings to sing his piano concerto in G major. Even Shakespeare favored them and had a close relationship with them! This article will explore starlings ' appearance, behavior, breeding habits, and the challenges they face.

    Starling Appearance

    The Eurasian starling has a body length of about 22cm, a wingspan of 39cm, and a body weight of about 85g. Their feather color and spots vary in different seasons and age groups. Adult birds generally have black feathers. In spring and summer, the feathers on the head and chest show a beautiful purple and green luster, while in winter, they show white star spots. The young bird is sooty brown, and the abdomen is dark brown with pale markings. In addition, the feathers of European starlings have a unique black-and-white spot feature, and the whole body feathers show white spots and dark yellow in winter. The mouths of adult male birds are blue, while the mouths of female birds are pink, which is an important sign to distinguish their genders.

    Starling Sounds and Mimicry

    The singing melody of Eurasian starlings is changeable, bright whistles, chirping and so on. Imitate other bird songs, including eastern forest flycatcher and North American quail, mechanical sound and flute sound. Male birds often flap their wings and sing. Starlings are famous for their rich calls and excellent imitation ability. They can imitate not only the calls of other birds, but also the voices of human beings. For example, a starling kept barking in the field on the north side of the river. Its barking perfectly imitated the sound of a peregrine falcon. Other birds were upset, and some even thought it was the sound of an eagle.

    The starlings can also imitate the calls of birds such as golden shorebirds, field thrushes, kestrels, and peregrine falcons, and even the calls of rarer migratory birds such as dippers and blue-footed snipes can be faithfully recorded by them. In addition, the calls of starlings are varied and highly recognizable. For example, the wild shooting of mercerized starlings is very distinctive. The sounds of some starlings are even similar to the sounds in the movie ' Star Wars ', especially the sounds of R2D2 robots.

    Starling Diet

    The Eurasian starlings mainly feed on various insects, both adults and larvae. Of course, as omnivorous birds, they also eat seeds, fruits, nectar, etc. Pasture is a common place for purple-winged starlings. They either forage in the low grass, or rest on the back of herbivores in two or three places. These birds often appear on the grass or bushes in the courtyard.

    Breeding and Raising Chicks

    Breeding from April to June, often cluster nesting, nest camping in the village under the tail eaves, cliff cracks, tower and natural tree holes. The nest is made of straw, leaves, grass roots, reeds, feathers and so on. It reproduces once a year and produces 4 to 7 eggs. The color of the eggs varies greatly, showing milky yellow, emerald green or pure light green blue. Incubation period of 12 days, parent birds brood 95 to 328 times a day, and sometimes a number of insects return to nest.

    Group Behavior and Roosting

    Live alone or in pairs during the breeding period, the young birds foraging in groups, in groups during the incubation period. They often feed in groups on the grassland, sometimes with the participation of sparrows. In winter, other birds are added to inhabit together to form a considerable number of birds. Often in the open ground foraging. Eat a variety of insects, fruits and grains. The pointed mouth is strong and powerful. Monogamy often forms a loose group. Some male birds are polygamous and have the behavior of occupying nests. The nesting height is 3-8 m, sometimes up to 18 m, and both sexes build nests together. Each nest 4-8 eggs, light blue or light green usually unstained, but sometimes brown spots, eggs short oblong to oblong, 3.0 × 2.0 cm. Both sexes hatched together and hatched in 12-14 days, but the female hatched more. The nestlings are cared for by the female, and the chicks stay in the nest for 18-21 days and are fed by both sexes. The first flight was about 26 days later. 2-3 nests per year.

    Starling Numbers and Conservation Status

    According to 2004 statistics, the global population of starlings in Europe is about 310 million, including about 200 million in North America. At present, North America is estimated to have more than 200 million European starlings, which are thought to have been bred from a flock of 100 birds released in New York's Central Park in 1890. Although European starlings are numerous in North America, they are considered as invasive species. Since the ' Migratory Birds Protection Act' excludes the protection of such non-native animal species, European starlings are not subject to special legal protection. However, this does not mean that they are not subject to any protection, and related ecological management and control measures are still being implemented.

    The introduction of starlings, from insect prevention

    In order to control pests, purple-winged starlings have been introduced to North America, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand. After successfully surviving and establishing their own populations, they also spread to more surrounding areas. In 1862, the Europeans brought the purple-winged starlings to New Zealand. Today, the purple-winged starlings here are as common as many other birds introduced from Europe. During the day, they forage in groups in courtyards, roadside meadows, parks and pastures, or fly short distances in the air; in the evening, they will fly into the tree, ready to rest, a tree can have hundreds of sleep together, chirping very lively.

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