My Visitor: European Starling

The common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known as the European starling, or in the British Isles just the starling, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 in) long and has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, 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.

9 thoughts on “My Visitor: European Starling”

Indira on August 14, 2017 at 7:08 am said:

Very pretty with ‘hearts’ on the plumage! 🙂

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- avian101 on August 14, 2017 at 5:44 pm said:
  
  Thank you Indira! 🙂
  
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jfwknifton on August 14, 2017 at 3:52 pm said:

If you can get close enough to see, the male has a blue base to his bill and the female has pink. Easy to remember!

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- avian101 on August 14, 2017 at 5:45 pm said:
  
  Thank you for sharing John! 🙂
  
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tootlepedal on August 14, 2017 at 4:50 pm said:

We are quite well off for starlings here at the moment.

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- avian101 on August 14, 2017 at 5:47 pm said:
  
  I can just imagine! Thanks Tom. 🙂
  
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Clare Pooley on August 14, 2017 at 7:50 pm said:

Hardly any starlings here, HJ. 😦 I like starlings very much – thanks for all these lovely photos!

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- avian101 on August 14, 2017 at 8:05 pm said:
  
  I’m sorry that you can’t see them often Clare.Thank you very much. 🙂
  
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  - Clare Pooley on August 14, 2017 at 8:58 pm said:
    
    🙂 🙂 🙂

H.J. Ruiz – Avian101