Animalia > Chordata > Aves > Passeriformes > Sturnidae > Sturnus > Sturnus vulgaris

Sturnus vulgaris (European Starling; Common Starling)

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Wikipedia Abstract

The common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known as the European starling, or in the British Isles just the starling, 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 year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browner plumage than the adults. It is a noisy bird, especially in communal roosts and other gregarious situations, with an unmusical but varied song. Its gift for mimicry has been noted in literature including the Mabinogion and the works of Pliny the Elder and William Shakespeare.
View Wikipedia Record: Sturnus vulgaris

Infraspecies

Sturnus vulgaris caucasicus
Sturnus vulgaris faroensis
Sturnus vulgaris granti
Sturnus vulgaris humii
Sturnus vulgaris intermedius
Sturnus vulgaris minor
Sturnus vulgaris nobilior
Sturnus vulgaris oppenheimi
Sturnus vulgaris poltaratskyi
Sturnus vulgaris porphyronotus
Sturnus vulgaris purpurascens
Sturnus vulgaris tauricus
Sturnus vulgaris vulgaris
Sturnus vulgaris zetlandicus

Invasive Species

View ISSG Record: Sturnus vulgaris

EDGE Analysis

Uniqueness Scale: Similiar (0) 
1
 Unique (100)
Uniqueness & Vulnerability Scale: Similiar & Secure (0) 
15
 Unique & Vulnerable (100)
ED Score: 4.54402
EDGE Score: 1.71272
Learn more at EDGE of Existence programme

Attributes

Adult Weight [1]  80 grams
Birth Weight [3]  6 grams
Breeding Habitat [2]  Generalist
Wintering Geography [2]  Non-migrartory
Wintering Habitat [2]  Generalist
Diet [4]  Carnivore (Invertebrates), Carnivore (Vertebrates), Frugivore, Nectarivore, Granivore
Diet - Ectothermic [4]  10 %
Diet - Fruit [4]  30 %
Diet - Invertibrates [4]  20 %
Diet - Nectar [4]  10 %
Diet - Scavenger [4]  10 %
Diet - Seeds [4]  20 %
Forages - Understory [4]  20 %
Forages - Ground [4]  80 %
Clutch Size [6]  2
Clutches / Year [3]  2
Fledging [5]  21 days
Global Population (2017 est.) [2]  150,000,000
Incubation [3]  12 days
Mating Display [7]  Ground display
Mating System [7]  Monogamy (mostly)
Maximum Longevity [3]  23 years
Migration [8]  Intercontinental
Speed [9]  36.238 MPH (16.2 m/s)
Wing Span [9]  15 inches (.38 m)
Female Maturity [3]  1 year
Male Maturity [3]  1 year

Ecoregions

Protected Areas

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Ecosystems

Biodiversity Hotspots

Prey / Diet

Prey / Diet Overlap

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Predators

Providers

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Range Map

External References

NatureServe Explorer

Audio

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Citations

Attributes / relations provided by
♦ 1Storchová, Lenka; Hořák, David (2018), Data from: Life-history characteristics of European birds, Dryad, Dataset, https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.n6k3n
♦ 2Partners in Flight Avian Conservation Assessment Database, version 2017. Accessed on January 2018.
♦ 3de Magalhaes, J. P., and Costa, J. (2009) A database of vertebrate longevity records and their relation to other life-history traits. Journal of Evolutionary Biology 22(8):1770-1774
♦ 4Hamish Wilman, Jonathan Belmaker, Jennifer Simpson, Carolina de la Rosa, Marcelo M. Rivadeneira, and Walter Jetz. 2014. EltonTraits 1.0: Species-level foraging attributes of the world's birds and mammals. Ecology 95:2027
♦ 5Nathan P. Myhrvold, Elita Baldridge, Benjamin Chan, Dhileep Sivam, Daniel L. Freeman, and S. K. Morgan Ernest. 2015. An amniote life-history database to perform comparative analyses with birds, mammals, and reptiles. Ecology 96:3109
♦ 6Jetz W, Sekercioglu CH, Böhning-Gaese K (2008) The Worldwide Variation in Avian Clutch Size across Species and Space PLoS Biol 6(12): e303. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0060303
♦ 7Terje Lislevand, Jordi Figuerola, and Tamás Székely. 2007. Avian body sizes in relation to fecundity, mating system, display behavior, and resource sharing. Ecology 88:1605
♦ 8Myers, P., R. Espinosa, C. S. Parr, T. Jones, G. S. Hammond, and T. A. Dewey. 2006. The Animal Diversity Web (online). Accessed February 01, 2010 at animaldiversity.org
♦ 9Alerstam T, Rosén M, Bäckman J, Ericson PGP, Hellgren O (2007) Flight Speeds among Bird Species: Allometric and Phylogenetic Effects. PLoS Biol 5(8): e197. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0050197
♦ 10Ecology of Commanster
♦ 11FLESHY FRUITS OF INDIGENOUS AND ADVENTIVE PLANTS IN THE DIET OF BIRDS IN FOREST REMNANTS, NELSON, NEW ZEALAND, PETER A. WILLIAMS and BRIAN J. KARL, New Zealand Journal of Ecology (1996) 20(2): 127-145
♦ 12Birds and berries: a study of an ecological interaction. Calton, Great Britain, Snow B.K., Snow D.W., 1988, T & AD Poyser. 268 p.
♦ 13Study of Northern Virginia Ecology
♦ 14Anurans as prey: an exploratory analysis and size relationships between predators and their prey, L. F. Toledo, R. S. Ribeiro & C. F. B. Haddad, Journal of Zoology 271 (2007) 170–177
♦ 15Jorrit H. Poelen, James D. Simons and Chris J. Mungall. (2014). Global Biotic Interactions: An open infrastructure to share and analyze species-interaction datasets. Ecological Informatics.
♦ 16Olsen, J., Judge, D., Fuentes, E., Rose, AB and Debus, S. (2010). Diets of Wedge-tailed Eagles (Aquila audax) and Little Eagles (Hieraaetus morphnoides) breeding near Canberra, Australia Journal of Raptor Research 44: 50–61
♦ 17Un-paint it black: Avian prey as a component of the diet of nestling Hooded Crows Corvus cornix, Piotr Zduniak, Jakub Z. Kosicki & Bartłomiej Gołdyn, Belg. J. Zool., 138 (1) : 85-89 (2008)
♦ 18del Hoyo, J., Elliott, A., Sargatal, J., Christie, D.A. & de Juana, E. (eds.). Handbook of the Birds of the World Alive. Lynx Edicions, Barcelona.
♦ 19Comparison of Saker Falcon Falco cherrug Prédation during and after the Breeding Period, János Bagyura, László Haraszthy, Sándor Gróf and Iván Demeter, Chancellor, R. D. & B.-U. Meyburg eds. 2004 Raptors Worldwide, p. 673-677
♦ 20Olsen, J., E. Fuentes, DM Bird, AB Rose, and D. Judge. 2008. Dietary shifts based upon prey availability in Peregrine Falcons and Australian Hobbies breeding near Canberra, Australia Journal of Raptor Research 42:125–137
♦ 21BREEDING-SEASON DIET OF A PAIR OF BARKING OWLS NEAR ARMIDALE, NEW SOUTH WALES, S. J. S. DEBUS, J. A. FORD and A. B. ROSE, Corella, 2005, 29(1): 15-16
♦ 22Gibson, D. I., Bray, R. A., & Harris, E. A. (Compilers) (2005). Host-Parasite Database of the Natural History Museum, London
♦ 23Species Interactions of Australia Database, Atlas of Living Australia, Version ala-csv-2012-11-19
♦ 24International Flea Database
Ecoregions provided by World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF). WildFinder: Online database of species distributions, ver. 01.06 Wildfinder Database
Biodiversity Hotspots provided by Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund
Abstract provided by DBpedia licensed under a Creative Commons License
Audio software provided by SoundManager 2
Species taxanomy provided by GBIF Secretariat (2022). GBIF Backbone Taxonomy. Checklist dataset https://doi.org/10.15468/39omei accessed via GBIF.org on 2023-06-13; License: CC BY 4.0