Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)

2. Country or place of origin: Native of Great Britain and Europe.

4. The Starling was said to have been deliberately introduced to the US as “part of a movement
to introduce all the birds of Shakespeare to the States.” It was said to have been introduced in
1890 to New York’s central park. The bird then naturally spread to other parts of the North
American continent.
6. The Starling has spread to New Zealand to control insect populations, to the US for
ornamental reasons and from the US has spread throughout North America, naturally.
% 8. Reproduction
% Starlings reproduce sexually. Breeding season in the Northern Hemisphere begins late March
and runs to early July. The southern hemisphere breeding season runs between September
and December. European starling clutches contain between 4-6 blue-green eggs. Females
can lay as many as three clutches in a single breeding season.
% Lifecycle stages
Eggs incubate in the nest for up to 15 days. The juvenile European starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
will stay in the nest for 21 to 23 days and may continue to beg parents for food for a few days
after leaving the nest. Banding studies have shown that European starlings can live up to 21
years in the wild. (Chow, 2000, CWBO, 2004)
% 10. Management information
Manual methods have been used such as trapping, exclusion, and shooting. Mechanic controls
include frightening with the use of sonic devices. They have also been managed by using
propane exploders, pyrotechnics, hawk kites, and ultrasonic sounds. Most of these methods only
provided temporary relief. A pesticide called Avitrol is also used sometimes to poison the
species. These pesticides had a negative effect on the birds and caused unusual behavioral
patterns. A chemical control method using the chemical compound DRC-1339 was used to
control Starlings around livestock. The chemical method used in a certain Nevada feedlot
reduced the population by 75%. The chemical usually allowed for a slow nonviolent death that
did not put animals around the Starling at risk.