Common Starling

Sturnus vulgaris

The common starling, also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, and as the European starling in North America, 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 the year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browner plumage than the adults. Its gift for mimicry has been noted in literature including the Mabinogion and the works of Pliny the Elder and William Shakespeare. Source

Where it is now

In the last 8 weeks this bird was recorded 1,619,924 times across 144 areas (each area is a 5 degree square).

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Movement and weather

Each season it is first heard regularly where daytime highs are around 19°C (typically 11 to 24°C, from 50 areas). That range is wide, so temperature alone does not explain when it turns up.

Over the weeks it was present in the past year, its centre in North America ranged from 37°N in May to 45°N in June, about 900 km apart.

Arrival dates

The week it was first heard regularly in each region, after at least six weeks away. Dates differ from south to north, so a region has a range.

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Figures are effort corrected and come from automatic sound identification, which makes mistakes. How this is measured and how it compares with human observers.