A bird native to Europe and other Palearctic regions, introduced to North America. Outside breeding season it may form large flocks.
Adults in summer have dark iridescent purple-green feathers and yellow bills. Fresh winter feathers have prominent white spots.
Before roosting, European starlings form large flocks above a roost, turning and changing shape in an aerial display called a murmuration. Goodenough and colleagues examined 3,211 citizen-science records. Sightings came from 23 countries, although most were from the UK. The mean flock estimate was 30,082 birds, the maximum was 750,000, and displays lasted an average of 26 minutes. Reports covered a range of habitats, but habitat was not associated with flock size or duration.
Birds of prey were recorded at 29.6% of murmurations, and predator presence was positively associated with flock size and duration. Murmurations with predators were also more likely to end with the birds descending to roost together. The researchers interpreted these results as supporting a possible role in avoiding predators and compared this with another explanation: gathering birds at a warmer roost.
IUCN Red List of Threatened Species · Least Concern (LC) · Global
BirdLife International’s 2019 IUCN Red List assessment classifies the European Starling as Least Concern (LC) globally. The assessment date has not been verified.