I do find them fun to watch and so I looked them up. A very informative site is www.pleasebekind.com/starlings.html . Here is what I found:
"Starlings were introduced into North America from England in 1890 by Eugene Schieffelin. He and his friends were determined to introduce into the U.S. all of the animals mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. While some of the attempts failed, not so with the starling. The original 100 birds who were introduced are responsible for the hundreds of millions who exist in the U.S. today. "
"Starlings belong to the family of birds which includes vocal mimics known as myna birds."
"Starlings tend to flock together when feeding. When traveling, the flock looks like it rolls; the birds at the back of the flock go over and replace the birds at the front. If a hawk appears, the flock tightens for protection."
"A biologist reports the following story about starlings: I once was witness to a young boy shooting a female starling. I have never forgotten what happened next. A larger male starling, obviously her mate, landed next to the dead female and sounded a distress call, flapping its wings in challenge. It put itself at risk with its courage. The boy didn't shoot the bird, but slowly approached. The male starling stood his ground, trying to protect his mate. Finally, when the boy was just a few feet away, the grieving bird flew off. Here was a bird that is considered a common pest, that is poisoned by the thousands, clearly showing signs of loyalty and courage."
I knew I liked them!
3 comments:
I saw a group of Robins in my tree yesterday. Not nearly as large as the groups of starlings I see. but I thought that was quite unusual. Usually one sees one or two robins in one place.
Henry is cute:)
What a darling sleepy face!
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