Starlings

Sturnus Vulgaris, not the prettiest Latin name you ever heard and quite frankly Starlings they don’t get a lot of good press. The Latin word ‘vulgaris’ doesn’t mean vulgar as is usually thought, it means common! Starlings are bully’s at the bird table, often first there and stripping whatever food you put out as fast as they can. They often look greasy, black, dull and ugly, poor things.!!!!

However get a good look at one in the winter sunshine and the beauty shines through. Like many ‘black’ coloured birds, they do tend to look rather plain at a distance or at first glance.

I’m on a quest to improve people’s perception of ‘black’, ‘bully’ birds by showing a couple of photo’s of the culprits in a better light. Starlings and Magpies share similar traits. I hope you agree, there is some beauty in these birds, If only they could improve their behaviour, then I think more people would see the good points of the bird.

The Starling is a very common bird in the towns, cities and gardens throughout the UK. Pre-roost flocks can be an amazing sight as birds form huge clouds, swirling and twisting before settling to roost. These collections of starlings are called a ‘murmuration’.
Starlings are noisy, aggressive, gregarious birds however, like many British birds there has been a marked decline in recent years.

Starlings are a familiar sight in our gardens, male and females are identical. Plumage at a distance appears black, however closer inspection reveals a vivid metallic purple green iridescence, similar to Magpie’s, and in winter all feathers will be buff tipped. The Starling is a very abundant breeding resident in the UK with over 8 million birds present, they occur in all counties throughout the UK but habitat loss has caused a recent decline in numbers Starlings occur in all habitat types throughout the UK, woodlands, parks, gardens, farmland, hedgerows, towns and cities. They are cavity nesters and will utilise tree holes, roof cavities etc.
In the garden Starlings will feed on almost anything from kitchen scraps to Mealworms, they will also feed on invertebrates, Seed Mixes, Suet and Fat Balls .

Like the Starling the Magpie is a noisy and gregarious, a classic bully, but look at the colours, cracker.