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The European starling is also known as the common starling. It is medium sized with glossy plumage that can vary from glossy black to metallic blue or green speckled with white. The scientific name of the European starling is Sturnus Vulgaris and it first arrived in the North American shores courtesy of Shakespearean enthusiasts visiting the continent in the 19th century.
In the 1890s these birds were let loose in Central Park, New York by a group of Shakespeare lovers who wanted Americans to have the birds that they read about in the legendary books. The population exploded to number over 200 million European starlings across the nation and even into neighboring territories like Mexico. Unfortunately, the sheer numbers of the birds have turned them into pests that people want to get rid of instead of a national treasure as was intended.
The talents of European starlings
They are excellent mimics of other birds and can copy the bird call of up to 20 different species across America. Some of the bird calls they can copy belong to the meadowlarks, Eastern wood-pewee, red-tailed hawk, wood thrush, and American robin among many others. These birds can change from speckled with white spot to completely black and glossy at different times of the year. This characteristic is known as the wear molt because the white tips that give them the speckled look wear away naturally.
They are able to live up to the age of fifteen years as was proven by a European starling in the state of Texas that was recorded to have reached the ripe age of 15 years and 3 months.
However, their most prolific talent is that they can taste sour and sweet flavors from sugar and salt to citrus and tannins. They can even differentiate between table sugar and natural sugar which is crucial for this bird species that is unable to digest sucrose found in table sugar.
European starling as pests
Because this bird have grown so much in number they have become a nuisance in people’s farms, gardens, backyards and even school yards. They will eat ripening food and seeds from people farms and even though they also eat insects that can be pests their numbers are too many for them to balance their good to the environment with the damage they can cause. Plus, these birds love to move around in large flocks so when they descend upon an area they can cause a lot of havoc.
Apart from eating from the farms and gardens they are also loud and noisy and the flock tends to leave a massive splattering of droppings that is messy and unsightly. A licensed pest control professional has a few tactics to get rid of starlings including clearing the gutters and advising property owners to keep trash cans sealed. In some states these birds are protected so a pest control expert knows how to approach the state for permits and what they can or cannot do to the birds.