Getting Some Grub
Several times during the year right after a rainy day, not by coincidence of course I see a small group of European Starlings that just appear from somewhere and goes hunting for worms, grubs and any invertebrate that leaves the water saturated ground.
The European Starling is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family Sturnidae. It has glossy black plumage, which is speckled with white at some times of year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browner plumage than the adults. It is a noisy bird, especially in communal roosts and other gregarious situations, with an unmusical but varied song.
I particularly love their iridescent plumage that turns colors and looks very interesting. The camera registers most of them and it’s hard to believe that these birds are black originally.
Next, I brought some photos of the starlings for you that I hope you will enjoy.
Text and photographs © HJ Ruiz – Avian101
H.J. Ruiz - Avian101 
These are beautiful birds, I love the mottled pattern and bold personality. The bathtime moment is adorable. A murmuration of starlings is one of Nature’s most amazing dances!.
Thank you very much Carmen, I saw them flying in a massive undulating wave only once and was very impressed. 🙂
beautiful birds and great shots too, a bird over looked by some which is a shame as there colours are lovely 😀
Yes, you’re right, I’ve noticed that, in many places they’re treated as a pest. Thank you for sharing! 🙂
I like starlings.
Thanks Tom, I seen nice pictures taken by you of them! 🙂
I disagree with you on the unmusicality of starlings. Indeed Mozart had a starling; of course historians have blamed the starling for inspiring Mozart’s “Musical Joke.” But starlings are great mimics and their wolf whistles are certainly musical. 🙂
Quote from © Wikipedia
“The Common Starling is a noisy bird. Its song consists of a wide variety of both melodic and mechanical-sounding noises as part of a ritual succession of sounds. The male is the main songster and engages in bouts of song lasting for a minute or more. Each of these typically includes four varieties of song type, which follow each other in a regular order without pause. The bout starts with a series of pure-tone whistles and these are followed by the main part of the song, a number of variable sequences that often incorporate snatches of song mimicked from other species of bird and various naturally occurring or man-made noises. The structure and simplicity of the sound mimicked is of greater importance than the frequency with which it occurs. Each sound clip is repeated several times before the bird moves on to the next. After this variable section comes a number of types of repeated clicks followed by a final burst of high-frequency song, again formed of several types. Each bird has its own repertoire with more proficient birds having a range of up to 35 variable song types and as many as 14 types of clicks.”
Okay, so we agree on some level. They sound pretty amazing to me. And music is a very subjective experience anyway. 🙂
🙂