Common Starling
- Distribution: Europe, Asia, North Africa, introduced in North America, Australia, and New Zealand.
- Habitat: Urban areas, agricultural land, parks, gardens.
- Diet: Insects, fruits, seeds, kitchen scraps.
The common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) is a medium-sized passerine bird in the Sturnidae family of passerine birds. It is sometimes referred to as the European starling in North America and just the starling in Great Britain and Ireland. Its glossy black plumage, which has a metallic shine and is streaked with white at certain times of the year, measures around 20 cm (8 in) in length. Juvenile birds have browner plumage than adult birds; the legs are pink, and the bill is black in the winter and yellow in the summer. It is a chatty bird with a varied but unmusical song, especially in communal roosts and other sociable conditions.
The size and color tone of the mature plumage of the common starling varies clinally among the subspecies. There is variance in authorities’ approval of the several subspecies because to the gradual variation over geographic range and significant intergradation.
19–23 cm (7.5–9.1 in) is the length of a common starling. Particularly in the winter, the plumage is iridescent black, glossed purple or green, and splattered with white. During a specific season of the year, the underparts of adult male common starlings have less spots than those of adult females. While females have smaller, more pointed throat feathers, males have longer, looser feathers that are utilized for show. Strong, pinkish- or greyish-red legs are present. In winter, the bill is brownish-black, but in summer, females have lemon-yellow beaks with pink bases, while males have yellow bills with blue-grey bases. The bill is small, conical, and has a pointed tip.
The common starling is a noisy bird whose song consists of a wide range of melodic and mechanical noises that are combined into a ritualistic sequence. The man performs the majority of the singing, with songs lasting a minute or longer. Usually, each of them consists of four different song types that flow into one another without interruption. The song’s main section, a variety of varying sequences that frequently include song fragments imitated from other bird species and diverse naturally occurring or artificial noises, come first in the bout, which is opened with a succession of pure-tone whistles.