European Starling

Overview

European Starling: Small, chunky, iridescent purple and green blackbird with long, pointed yellow bill, pink legs, and short tail. The feathers on back and undertail show buff edges. Feeds in open areas, normally on the ground. Strong, direct and swift flight on rapidly beating wings.

Range and Habitat

European Starling: Native to Eurasia, but widely introduced worldwide. Occurs from Alaska and Quebec south throughout the continent to the Gulf coast and northern Mexico. Preferred habitats include cities, suburban areas, farmlands, and ranches.

INTERESTING FACTS

All of the 200 million European Starlings found in North America today are descendants of approximately 100 birds released in New York City's Central Park in the early 1890s by an industrialist who wanted to establish, in the U.S., all birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare.
They compete aggressively for nesting sites and may evict the occupants of desired holes, including the woodpeckers that excavated them.
An individual bird can mimic up to 20 species, including Eastern Wood Pewee, Killdeer, and Meadowlark songs.
A group of starlings has many collective nouns, including a "constellation", "filth", "murmuration", "scourge", and "vulgarity" of starlings.

The European Starling is also referred to as the Common Starling. This bird species is rated at this time as Least Concern. In 2000, the European Starling was rated as Lower Risk. The Lower Risk rating was downgraded due to the population and range of this bird species. The European Starling has a range of about 10 million square kilometers. The population of the European Starling is estimated at around 100 million individual birds. This bird is native to parts of Europe. There is no reason to think at this time that this bird is in any immediate danger.