The urban starling is a noisy and inescapable of life in any town or city, particularly my own. Many people are subject to all sorts of irritation from starlings be it pinching food from their feeders, creating a dropping collage in their gardens or nesting in undesired places.I for one was woken at 6:00am on a regular basis throughout the summer by noisy nesters in my roof but i can safely say despite the inconvenience i couldn't have been happier to have them! They arrive in their numbers to any urban site bearing food and are supremely adapted to an urban lifestyle. I consider them an attractive bird with their ultra violet spangled plumage and the male's raised hackles while singing boldly.
Male birds are distinguishable from their female counterparts by a bluish tinge to base of the beak in mature birds, longer hackle feather and often a darker iris than the female. He develops a complex repertoire of mimiced sounds which he sings to attract a mate, the more complex the song the more mature the bird.
One of the greatest spectacles in the natural world is surely starling murmuration. Hundreds upon thousands of birds swirl across amber autumn skys in an incredible aeronautical display before going to roost.
Unfortunately, not everyone shares my fondness for the starling and they have been 'controlled' in many towns and cities across the world. The introduction of new agricultural methods has made rural survival challenging for the starling. British starling populations have experienced a decline of over 2/3 in recent years.
In the above piece 'Disintegration by Urbanisation' I've aimed to highlight the threat human actions pose to this fantastically adaptive and resourceful little bird.
Despite setbacks for the species, starlings are continuing to thrive in some areas and are even the most common species in many towns and cities.
