starlings Washington State（椋鸟华盛顿州）.pdfVIP

Starlings It is hard to imagine now, but European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris, Fig. 1) were purposefully introduced from Europe into this country. After two failed attempts, about 60 European starlings were released into New York’s Central Park in 1890 by a small group of people with a passion to introduce all of the animals mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare. The offspring of the original 60 starlings have spread across the continental United States, northward to southern Canada and Alaska, and southward into Central America. There are now an estimated 150 million starlings in the United States. In 1889 and 1892, the Portland Song Bird Club released 35 pairs of starlings in Portland, Oregon. These birds established themselves, but then Figure 1. The European starling is a medium-sized, black disappeared in 1901 or 1902. The next sighting of a songbird with short, triangular wings, speckled plumage, starling in the Pacific Northwest was not until the mid and a short tail. The adult in breeding plumage has a 1940s. Presumably these birds could be genetically distinctive yellow bill and speckled black plumage with linked to the 1890 Central Park introduction. purple-green iridescence. The nonbreeding adult has a black beak and light spots. Juveniles are drab gray-brown overall. It is difficult to reach a consensus on starlings. Some Males and females look alike. value the species for their creative adaptiveness and (Drawing by Elva Hamerstrom Paulson.) their odd beauty. Many hold a strong dislike of starlings because of their aggressive behavior at feeders and nesting sites, and their overwhelming flocks and roosting habits. There is only one thing on which agreement can be reached regarding starlings—they are ubiquitous. Facts about Starlings Food and Feed