Starling

Sturnus vulgaris

The noisy, messy starling is often an unwelcome guest at the bird table thanks to its habit of arriving in a great flock and eating all the food.  However, this remarkable bird – famous for its spectacular mass aerial displays before roosting for the night – is actually in serious decline and on the RSPB ‘Red’ at risk list.  So console yourself when your bird table is emptied that you are doing your bit to conserve a special bird for the future!

 Description: From a distance the Starling looks black, but in fact has iridescent purple, green and blue plumage, speckled with white in winter.  Females have more speckling than the male.  It is about 8 ½ in (22 cm) tall and walks with a jerky movement.  It feeds in groups during the day and often creates huge flocks in the evening.  The Starling is a noisy bird, often mimicking other birds and even car alarms.

 Nesting and breeding:  The breeding season lasts from April to June, with 1 or 2 broods. Starlings often breed in colonies, with the male building a messy nest of leaves and grass in a hole in trees, buildings or cliffs.  The female lays 5-7 pale blue eggs which hatch after 13 days.  Both adults then feed the young who leave the nest after about 21 days.

Where to see them

Starlings are widespread in Britain, except on very high ground  

They are present all year round, supplemented in winter by visitors from northern and eastern Europe

Starlings have adapted to a wide variety of habitats, from town centres to open countryside, parks and farms 

What they eat

Starlings eat insects, especially leatherjackets (cranefly larvae), earthworms, spiders and snails  

In autumn and winter they eat seeds, fruit and berries 

Starlings will arrive en masse in gardens to strip bird tables and feeders of most foods.  They are hard to deter without scaring off smaller, more timid, birds

Recommended Farbrook Farm foods: Suet Pellets, All Season Wild Bird Food, Dried Mealworms

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