European+Starling+3

=European Starling=

__General Information__
The European Starling is commonly known as the common starling and scientifically known as the Sturnus Vulgaris. They are small birds 21.5 cm long and weigh around 70 to 100 grams.(3) Many starlings are attractive with their feathers having a metallic like green, blue, purple, and violet colors and the juvenile starlings are gray- brown all over .(1) Their appearance changes during the seasons such as winter when they would have white flecking on their breast.(3) The distinction between the male and female is almost impossibly known except when breeding season comes and their bill color because the lower mandible of the male is blue-gray while the while the female's are pink.(4)

__Detailed Description__
Most Starlings engender 1 to 2 clutches per year of 4 to 6 eggs each.(4) The eggs will develop in the nest for up to 15 days. Then the juvenile starlings would stay in the nest for about 21 to 23 days and continue to live off of their parents for food even after they leave the nest. Studies show that starlings can live up to 21 years in the wild.(3) The starling diet consists of mainly seeds, insects, invertebrates, plants and fruit.(3) They have a stout beak, strong legs, and are strong fliers.(4) They often form huge flocks of upwards of 3,000 birds.(1) The starlings are also known for their sounds. Although they are not very good singers, their sounds are quite interesting. They sound like squeaks, whistles, gurgles, and imitations of the songs of other birds. They maintain a busy and noisy chatter and can easily be trained to mimic human words and phrases. The starling is possibly the mist heard and seen bird in North America.(1) The starlings are successful because they aggressively compete with native bird species for nesting sites.(4)

__Habitat and Distribution__
The European Starling has spread throughout North America. The Starling lives in agricultural area, coast lands, natural forests, planted forests, range/grasslands, riparian zones, ruderal/disturbed areas, scrub/shrub lands, tundra, urban areas, and wetlands.(3) The European Starling has been the most numerous species on the annual Christmas bird counts and may be the most abundant birds species in North America.(1)

__Impacts__
Starlings have positive and negative impacts. The benefits from Starlings are that they eat many potentially harmful insects such as cutworms and beetle larvae and so they control insect populations. They are important in the pet trade and also make a aesthetic benefit for urban areas.(1) There are plenty of negative impacts from the European Starling because of their large population. The Starlings decline the number of native bird species because of their competitiveness for food and nesting sites.(1) They cause agricultural damage costing $800 million per year to crops.They foul buildings with their waste and so people have to clean up the messes everyday. Large numbers of them create a large weight that can break branches that can cause disfiguration and can kill mature trees. They also have 25 diseases that may be transmitted to humans and animals.(2)

__History__
The European Starling originated in Europe. They were first introduced to North America in the 1890s to Central Park in New York City.(1) A man named Eugene Scheifflen, a wealthy drug manufacturer and Shakespeare lover, brought and released 60 Starlings because Shakespeare mentioned it once and he wanted every bird that was mentioned in Shakespeare in North America.(2) The Starlings became well established and now there is an estimated population of 200 million starlings in North America.(4)

__Control Measures__
When there are large numbers of Starlings control measures are often used. Control measures are used by exclusion, proper nest box construction, frightening devices such as distress calls, exploders, trapping, shooting, lights, and pyrotechnics, repellents, the pesticide Avitrol, and toxicants.(2)

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__Works Cited__
1.Freedman, Bill. "Starlings." Gale Encyclopedia of Science. Ed. K. Lee Lerner and Brenda Wilmoth Lerner. 4th ed. Detroit: Gale Group, 2008. Student Resource Center - Gold. Gale. Stroudsburg High School. 22 Nov. 2008 .

2.Paulik, Laurie. "European Starlings". AgNIC Wildlife Damage Management. 5 February 2008 .

3."Sturnus Vulgaris". Global Invasive Species Database. 31 May 2007 < http://www.issg.org/database/species/impact_info.asp?si=74&fr=1&sts=&lang=EN>.

4."European Starlings: A Review of an Invasive Species With Far-Reaching Impacts". USDA National Wildlife Research Center Symposia. 2007 .