The European Starling in North America

Behavior and Spread of Sturnus vulgaris Since Introduction in 1880

Aug 11, 2009

European Starlings are highly adaptable birds of Eurasia that have been introduced in many countries - nowhere more successfully and regrettably than in North America.

European Starlings, Sturnus vulgaris (Common Starlings in Europe) were deliberately released in New York’s Central Park in 1889 and 1890. Though accounts disagree with respect to the exact number released, it’s likely that all of North America’s approximately 200 million European Starlings are descended from this small flock—just ten years later, the release would have been illegal. Sturnus vulgaris has also been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, Tasmania, South Africa and, most recently, Argentina.

The story goes that Shakespeare fans imported starlings into North America and sought to also introduce the other birds that Shakespeare mentioned in his plays—a romantic idea but not a good one. (To be fair, they were not the first to try to introduce the Common Starling, just the first to succeed.)

The introduced starlings found the insect food they required in spring and summer, and plentiful grain and fruit for fall and winter foraging. They nested successfully and started to spread. By 1915, the species was reported in Nova Scotia, and by 1919 they had moved into Ontario. By 1928 they were breeding as far west as the Mississippi River in the United States and were forming large flocks in winter, particularly in the eastern and southeastern United States. Visitors to fruit crops and livestock feed, competitors for nesting cavities formerly used by native birds, and noisy occupants of smelly offensive roosts, European Starlings had become a pest.

Today, the European Starling ranges throughout North America except in the cold northern reaches. Its population exceeds that of the species in Europe, and the damage it inflicts on farming operations is considerable.

Why the European Starling Spread so Fast

Sturnus vulgaris has proved to be an adaptable bird that does well wherever people provide it with nesting sites and food:

Although starlings don’t migrate along established routes, many do move south in winter to find warmer regions where food is more readily available. This seasonal movement has carried them into new territory that is also acceptable for year-round residence and breeding, thus expanding the range.

The species is prolific. Though pairs typically raise only one brood in colder regions, two or even three broods are possible where the climate permits. A high proportion of young survive where their insect food is readily available, quickly increasing the population.

Waterways into the interior of the continent likely provided corridors for quick dispersal of starlings in the early years, though they ultimately dispersed throughout the continent favoring areas near human communities.

Even in North America, where the European Starling is an exotic species, attitudes toward the birds range from bitter enmity to tolerance and even admiration. Control measures regularly involve poisoning the birds and attempting to keep them away from crops and grain stores.

It’s a strange contradiction that farmers in northeastern Europe welcome the starling because it eats large numbers of insects and their larvae that might otherwise damage crops. Similarly, though it troubles farmers in England as well, the bird is protected there because of a recent precipitous decline in numbers. In Continental Europe, populations may be in decline as well, though not to an alarming extent.

Meanwhile, recent surveys in Argentina indicate that European Starlings, presumably recently introduced either deliberately or accidentally in the Buenos Aires area, are breeding successfully and spreading. Unwelcome though they are, its likely too late to eradicate them now. It remains to be seen whether they will be as successful—and as destructive—there as they have been in North America.

Sources

Range Expansion of the European Starling Sturnus vulgaris in Argentina. Peris, S., G. Soave, A. Camperi, et al. Ardeola 52(2), 2005, 359-364.

The copyright of the article The European Starling in North America in Wild Birds is owned by Rosemary Drisdelle. Permission to republish The European Starling in North America in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.