Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

BirdSongbirdIntroduced Worldwide

Overview

The common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a stocky, short-tailed songbird with a sharp pointed bill and iridescent plumage that shifts green and purple in good light. In winter it is heavily spangled with pale spots; by spring the spots wear away and the bird looks darker and glossier.

Starlings are best known for murmurations: enormous flocks that wheel and pour through the sky in coordinated waves before dropping into a roost. Each bird responds to a handful of near neighbours, and those local rules produce the shapes seen from the ground.

They are also outstanding mimics, weaving imitations of other birds and of mechanical sounds into a rambling song of clicks, whistles and rattles.

Habitat & Range

Starlings are native to Europe, western Asia and North Africa and have been introduced to North America, southern Africa, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere. They thrive in open and modified landscapes — farmland, pasture, parks, gardens, towns and cities — and nest in cavities in trees, cliffs and above all buildings. They roost communally, sometimes in enormous numbers, in reedbeds, woodland and city structures.

Diet

Starlings are omnivores with a seasonal shift: invertebrates dominate in spring and summer — especially leatherjackets, beetle larvae and other soil invertebrates probed from short grass — while fruit, berries, seeds and grain become more important later in the year. They feed on the ground with a distinctive open-bill probing technique that pushes grass apart to expose prey.

Behavior

Starlings are highly social outside the breeding season, feeding in flocks and gathering at communal roosts. Murmurations occur as birds assemble before roosting and are widely interpreted as anti-predator behaviour and as a way of sharing roost information. Starlings nest in cavities and compete strongly for them. Their mimicry is extensive, and individual males incorporate a wide range of imitated sounds into their song.

Human Interaction & Conservation

Starlings have one of the most complicated relationships with people of any bird. Introduced populations — most famously in North America — expanded enormously and are treated as invasive because they compete for nest cavities with native cavity-nesters and gather in large numbers around agriculture. At the same time, in parts of their native European range starling numbers have declined substantially, generally linked to agricultural change reducing the soil invertebrates they need. This profile offers no wildlife-control guidance. Verify current status at the IUCN Red List.