Vulgar Europeans

The European Starling, Sturnus vulgaris, is one of the commonest birds in the world. Native to Eurasia, it is now widespread in North America. Birds of the World tells the famous tale of how this came about: “All North American starlings are derived from 80–100 founders released in 1890 and 1891 in Central Park, New York City. This was sponsored by an acclimatization society headed by Eugene Scheiffelin—an effort to introduce all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s writings.” Extraordinary notion.

As I write here in Boston in nearly March they are beginning to socialize and will soon be nesting. As a child I thought of them as rather boring blackish birds, but that is not really fair. In their breeding plumage they are largely black, but with an iridescent sheen, and a yellow bill. This is a female, since the base of her lower bill is pinkish:

In their non-breeding plumage they are quite lovely, almost every feather tipped with white or chestnut, and the darker feathers glinting wth green iridescence, though their bill is now black. These photos were taken in October, soon after their annual molt:

But by March, their beak has turned yellow, signaling a readiness to breed, and the light tips on their feathers are wearing off after months of ferocious grooming sessions:

This one is shaking itself out:

But they are still rather handsome, and the iridescence is becoming more visible:

By May, the drabness prevails: this is a male, almost all black, with a bluish base to his bill:

I have to say that the black male on the left below did not seem to impress the more colorful female,

who flew off:

Unlike us, starlings can see in UV, and the ‘drabber’ plumage is the breeding plumage because those light feather-tips of early winter hide the iridescence that attracts a mate. But it’s complicated; according to Bennett et al (1997) “it is low UV and green reflectance, in combination with high violet and red wavelengths, that females prefer. “

These photos were all taken on the eighth floor balcony of a modern high-rise in the middle of the city. Starlings are adaptable!