The Common Starling – friend or foe?
Don’t Dismiss the Starling – it has many virtues
It’s so easy to dismiss Starlings as strutting, greedy and noisy birds that we are better off without in our parks and gardens. But you might do well to take a closer look. Seen in the right light, the plumage of the adults is stunning. And yes, they are gregarious and noisy birds, but their autumn murmurations are awe inspiring to say the least.
Sadly, and like so many of our so called common birds, the Starling population in the UK is in sharp decline. The British Trust for Ornithology estimates there has been a loss of more than 50% of the population over the last 30 years, especially in the south and west.
We were pleased therefore to see that a flock of 40 or more juveniles has recently taken to using the old holly tree at the end of our garden in St Leonards as a staging post for their morning and evening gatherings.
Summer flocks of juveniles
Even from this young age, Starlings are gregarious birds. As soon as they become independent of their parents these juvenile flocks develop. The young birds forage and roost together and over the course of the summer the number of individuals increases.
At the end of the breeding season these flocks coalesce with the adult flocks and incoming migrants from Scandanavia to form giant winter flocks of mixed ages. It is during this time that the juvenile birds moult.
Plumage
1. Young Starlings have black bills and soft brown plumage until their first moult.
2. Emerging adult plumage – during their first moult they lose the soft brown feathers, and the striking iridescent plumage of the adult emerges. This photograph was taken at the end of July.
3. Out of the breeding season the adult’s bill is black.
4. … and during breeding, adults’ bills are yellow – males have a pale blue base, and females pale pink, a feature that should be quite easy to remember! The difference isn’t particularly noticeable in the field. This bird is a male.
Habitat and Feeding
Starlings are birds of the open countryside, but they have also adapted well to urban areas and parks. They are hole nesting birds, and are very happy to adopt nooks and crevices in buildings.
During the breeding season they forage for invertibrates in grassland and lawns, and are noted particularly for their preference for crane fly grubs – leatherjackets.
Unloved by farmers and others
Outside of the breeding season they consume large quantities of fruit and seeds, much to the despair of fruit growers and farmers. This preference, coupled with their flocking behaviour has often meant that hundreds, if not thousands of birds can rapidly descend on an orchard or food crop and strip it in a very short time. They will even target the supplimentary feed of cattle and free-range poultry etc. They have long been regarded as an agricultural pest, and attempts made to reduce their numbers.
The flocking behaviour is an asset to the survival of individual birds. When a good food source is found by a few individuals, the number of birds rapidly increases. Their intake of food is rapid, and the speed of feeding is stimulated by the arrival of others. When supply cannot meet demand, squabbling will break out among the flock, which then signals departure.
This behaviour is evident even at garden feeders, and reinforces the image of a greedy and noisy bird. Hence they are often unwelcome guests, even in gardens.
Working Against Nature
C J Feare worked for the Ministry of Agriculture in the 1970s, and studied the behaviour of Starlings in the UK for more than a decade to help farmers manage the problem. In his book “The Starling” he concludes:
“Attempts have been made in North Africa, Belgium, France, and North America to alleviate Starling problems by killing them, usually in their roosts, where sometimes more than a million birds have died in a single operation …. (but) this contol by mass killing has failed to produce long term reduction in numbers …”
Fail as these interventions did however, the recent trend of increased intensification in agricultural practice and habitat loss has finally succeeded in reducing the Starling population across Europe and especially in the UK.
Distribution and Population Trends
The European Starling has a natural distribution range across Europe and into parts of Asia, and has been introduced into North America, New Zealand and Australia.
Across much of this range it is still a common bird, but in Europe there have been marked population reductions, and especially in the UK, where it is now a Red Listed bird of major conservation concern.
During winter large numbers of Starlings migrate to the UK from Scandanavia. Flock size increases and can contribute to one of natures most spectacular sights – Starling murmurations.
Flocking and Murmurations
Herring Gull spooks Starling flock – Bulverhyth, Bexhill.
The Advantage of flocking
During the breeding season, breeding birds come together at good food sources, and then disperse to their nesting areas. Out of the breeding season the flock operates more cohesively to feed and to roost.
Flocks are a means of individuals benefiting from the knowlegde of others as to where good feeding sites are. They are also a means of using multiple eyes to sense danger. If a preditor is seen, all birds rise as one. This mass movement disrupts the ability of the preditor to target an individual Starling.
Winter Roosts and Murmurations
Trees, reedbeds, and seaside pier structures are all places Starlings will select as safe winter roosts. Thousands of individuals can gather at dusk and provide one of natures most amazing spectacles. The incredible coordination of the birds as they make these fantastic shapes in the sky are there to marvel at, and exploit as a photographer.
The Starlings are a true asset to Brighton and its tourist board, and there for free, as long as these amazing birds are given the protection they deserve.
Friend or foe … what do you think? I think for sure that the Starling should be added to our discussion of attitudes and prejudices towards different species, and the call for their culling: https://woodcockwood.com/gulls-versus-ducks/
End Note on the Common or European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris
While there are over 100 species of Starling from around the world, the one Starling we see in Europe is known as the Common or European Starling. However, there is one closely related Starling, known as the Spotless Starling, Sturnus unicolor, that occurs in Spain, Portugal, North Africa, and a number of Mediterranean islands.
It is very similar in appearance and behaviour to the Common Starling, except that its plumage is more or less free of spots, although it does sometimes show them. Where the two species overlap in distribution, they sometimes interbreed.
