Starlings

Busy, quizzy and usually have something to say for themselves, Starlings are gregarious and unlike any other bird in the islands.

Even in non-breeding plumage, the adults look spectacular with white spots highlighting the green and purple sheen on glossy dark feathers. Juveniles are much dowdier in brown plumage and barely look like starlings at all. By October they have gone through a complete moult and are indistinguishable from the adults.

We have small flocks of Starling. People of a certain age (myself included!) will remember the Starlings that used to roost in the trees at the bus terminus in St Peter Port, causing a little mess and mayhem. Numbers have declined although smaller flocks are to be seen at various places around the island.

Starlings are now red-listed in the UK as numbers of breeding pairs have fallen, particularly since 1996. They used to be very much more common than they are now. Numbers in Britain go up over the winter as visiting birds join the resident ones from Russia and Europe to make the most of our milder winters.

They are birds that are supreme at flocking. In parts of England, tens of thousands will gather at dusk and fly through the sky twisting and turing in a murmuration . It is dazzlling to behold the shifting patterns and shadowy changes as they wheel around the sky. this takes place before they come in to roost for the night. Suddenly, one Starling comes to earth and then they all fall out of the sky into their roosting sight. In the space of thirty seconds the sky goes from a swirling mass to empty.

I find it interesting that there is a small flock of Starlings quite close to where I live. i have occasionally had one or two that come into the garden to feed on the suet balls, but this is very infrequent. They seem to like their home patch and not to stray very far.

Their eyes are set in line with their beak which makes them very efficient at catching insects. They are also very fond of grubs, particularly leatherjackets, crane-fly grubs. This does not make them universally popular as they stab into grass with their beaks which can soon make a stretch of grass look like a bomb site.

In Guernsey, they can often be seen on the beach seaweed, burrowing in and using their keen sight to snatch up sandhoppers and flies.

The photo above shows the first Starling that I’ve ringed. It was very exciting as two flew into the net at the same time: one male and one female so Charlotte, the other trainee ringer and I had one each. The photo below shows both birds. The beak of the male had a blue tinged base while the female’s is pink.

The bird Charlotte is holding also shows the long hind claw – and it’s excellent gripping ability!