The European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris). otherwise known as the Common Starling, is a passerine bird that is placed in the family Sturnidae. Native to most of temperate Europe and western Asia, this bird was introduced to North America in 1890 by Eugene Schieffelin. He was the president of the Acclimmatization Society whose goal was to introduce to N.A.every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. This endeavor with the starling, which was initiated in Central Park of New York, turned into one of the most terrible environmental disasters on the continent.
This bird has a terrestrial feeding technique of open-billed probing, a feeding habit that undoubtedly helped the species spread across the continent (and other continents as well). Being a cavity-nester, this aggressive nest-site competitor has displaced numerous native bird species from their preferred nest locations. The starlings voracious appetite and habit of forming huge feeding flocks that can number in the tens-of-thousands, has deemed them a pest species of the highest degree on crops such as grapes. This highly gregarious bird can form roosting flocks that number over a million. Ironically, the species is dwindling in numbers in its native range.
During late summer molt occurs, replacing all of the bird's feathers with new feathers. Many of the new feathers are tipped with white, as seen in this photo. Since the white portions of the feathers do not contain the "tough" melanin pigments, those tips tend to wear rapidly. Therefore, by the time breeding season arrives, the birds have a sleek, uniform dark appearance with no white spotting at all. In this regard the European Starling is quite the makeover artist.
