Starling
Sturnus vulgaris
L 6″
Habitat: Starlings breed in various habitats that provide adequate nestling food (Troetschler 1976) but are perhaps most numerous in suburban and rural habitat where suitable nesting sites abound. Kalmbach (1928) noted that starlings prefer thickly settled agricultural areas and stated that “They are partial to human association....” During establishment in the United States, starlings first settled in lowland areas and are still abundant there (Small 1974, Royall 1966, Bent 1950). In a southeast Ontario test, starlings preferred old field habitat over five other habitats when sufficient nest sites were available (Gibo et al. 1976).
Nest: Cavities in trees, telephone poles, or fence posts, in drainpipes, mail boxes, or buildings, and in haystacks and cliffs have been used for nesting, as have burrows and open nests of other species (Kessel 1957, Bent 1950). Natural nest sites seem to be preferred over nest boxes (Planck 1967). Competition between starlings and native species for nesting cavities usually favors the starling, but most native species seem to breed in some habitats where starlings are not numerous.
Food: Analysis of contents of 2,750 starling stomachs taken in the northeastern states showed 57 percent animal materials such as insects, millipeds, spiders, molluscs, and a few crustaceans. Insects such as weevils, ground beetles, and plant-feeding scarabaeids such as May beetles were especially important. Of the 43 percent vegetable material, wild fruit was most important, but cultivated cherries, vegetable material, grain, and seeds of various sorts were also used (Kalmbach 1928). In other areas, grapes, blueberries, figs, and other fruit, truck crops, sprouting crops, and prepared livestock feed are eaten.