Common Starling

The Common Starling is a familiar, medium-sized songbird with a short tail, triangular wings, and a confident, waddling walk. In breeding plumage adults appear glossy black with an iridescent green and purple sheen and a bright yellow bill. In fresh winter plumage the black feathers are tipped with white and buff, giving the bird a heavily speckled, spangled appearance that fades through wear over the winter.

Juveniles are plain greyish-brown with a pale throat before molting into adult-type plumage. Highly gregarious, starlings are best known for their vast, swirling flocks -- called murmurations -- that wheel and pulse across the evening sky before settling into a communal roost.

Key field marks

• Short tail, pointed triangular wings, and a fast, direct flight distinct from the fluttering flight of similarly sized thrushes
• Glossy black plumage with green-purple iridescence in breeding season; heavily speckled with white/buff spots in winter
• Yellow bill in breeding season (base blue in males, pinkish in females), duller dark bill in winter
• Walks and runs on the ground rather than hopping

Similar species

Blackbirds are similar in size and color but have a longer tail, slower more deliberate flight, and lack starling speckling. Juvenile starlings' plain brown plumage can suggest a thrush, but the short tail and pointed wing shape are diagnostic.

Range

Native to Europe, western Asia, and North Africa; widely introduced and now abundant across North America, southern Africa, and Australia and New Zealand.

Habitat

Extremely adaptable, thriving in cities, suburbs, farmland, parks, and open woodland edges. Often forages on short grass such as lawns and pastures.

Migration

Northern and eastern populations are migratory, moving south and west in winter, while populations in milder climates are largely resident. Introduced populations, such as those in North America, are generally resident or short-distance migrants.

Behavior

Highly social, starlings feed, roost, and migrate in large flocks and are famous for murmurations, coordinated aerial displays involving thousands of birds that shift shape as a defense against predators like falcons.

Voice

An accomplished mimic, the Common Starling's song is a long, rambling mixture of whistles, clicks, rattles, and imitations of other birds and even mechanical sounds.

Feeding

Forages mainly on the ground, probing the soil with its bill for invertebrates; also eats fruit, seeds, and readily visits garden feeders and scavenges scraps.

Nesting and breeding

Nests in cavities -- tree holes, building crevices, and nest boxes -- lining them with grass and feathers. Lays 4-6 pale blue eggs, and pairs may raise two broods in a season.