The European Starling
The other day I saw a dense flight of dark birds flying over our pond. They came in a thick cloud and landed on the lawn above the pond. After a minute or so, they took off again in a circle, wheeled in the sky in a very tight, coordinated shape, only to return to the lawn again in a noisy and big flock. The European Starling had arrived!
Starlings are now common around cities and towns, parks and squares and streets. They stab their beaks into the ground moving in a slight zig-zag, not hopping like a Robin, more like running. I have noticed that they are quite aggressive at the bird feeder chasing other birds away, even equal to their size. They are not native to North America!
All the European Starlings in North America are descended from 60 birds set loose in New York’s Central Park in 1890. After two failed attempts, Eugene Schieffelin released them in the park a third time and they multiplied into millions. Now you can find them everywhere in the United States. Perhaps this is the first well documented example of a well intentioned act to shape the environment that we have. But Mr. Schieffelin’s actions have far more dire consequences than he probably imagined!
All the European Starlings in North America are descended from 60 birds set loose in New York’s Central Park in 1890. After two failed attempts, Eugene Schieffelin released them in the park a third time and they multiplied into millions. Now you can find them everywhere in the United States. Perhaps this is the first well documented example of a well intentioned act to shape the environment that we have. But Mr. Schieffelin’s actions have far more dire consequences than he probably imagined!
The legend is that Mr. Schieffelin tried to introduce every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare to the United States. What could be the harm in such a poetic gesture? Eugene Schieffelin was born in New York in 1827, his father was a prominent lawyer. Eugene was the President of the American Acclimatization Society, when he released the starlings - which he imported from the United Kingdom. Eugene Schieffelin radically and unfortunately altered America’s bird population because today the European Starlings range from Alaska to Florida and even into Mexico. The starling’s successful spread has come at the expense of many native birds that compete with the starling for nesting places and food.
In the nineteenth century, such societies as The American Acclimatization Society, were fashionable and were supported by the scientific knowledge and beliefs of an era that had no way of understanding the effect that non-native species could have on the local ecosystem.
In a defense of Mr. Schiefflin, some recent thinking has concluded that the introduction of the starling was perhaps not as devastating as had previously been suggested, as the starling eats a lot of insects. But now that we very recently have observed the drastic decline of insects across the globe (see our post of February 2019), perhaps this hasn’t been so benign!
In a defense of Mr. Schiefflin, some recent thinking has concluded that the introduction of the starling was perhaps not as devastating as had previously been suggested, as the starling eats a lot of insects. But now that we very recently have observed the drastic decline of insects across the globe (see our post of February 2019), perhaps this hasn’t been so benign!
One thing is certain, the introduction of the starling to the United States was not nearly so thoughtless as the introduction of the European rabbit to the continent of Australia in 1859 by a certain Thomas Austin, who wanted them for his hunting hobby. After releasing two dozen pairs, the rabbits managed to spread across the entire continent within 30 years, bringing with them disease and ravaging crops. So desperate was the plight of farmers in Western Australia, that they commissioned a ‘rabbit fence’ which would run over 3200 kilometers (~2000 miles) from the ocean in the north to the ocean in the south! As one might expect, it wasn’t very effective.
In the United States, common starlings are exempt from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits the taking or killing of migratory birds. No permit is required to remove nests and eggs or killing the starling. In 2005 there were 200 million starlings in the United States and they had a negative impact on the U.S. economy and ecosystem. In 2008 the U.S. government poisoned, shot or trapped 1.7 million birds. But they are back in full force.
In the United States, common starlings are exempt from the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which prohibits the taking or killing of migratory birds. No permit is required to remove nests and eggs or killing the starling. In 2005 there were 200 million starlings in the United States and they had a negative impact on the U.S. economy and ecosystem. In 2008 the U.S. government poisoned, shot or trapped 1.7 million birds. But they are back in full force.
Here are some interesting facts about starlings. They turn from spotted and white to glossy and dark each year without shedding their feathers. The new feathers in the Fall have white tips. The rest of the feathers are dark. This unusual changing act is called “wear molt”.
Starlings are good fliers and get up to speeds to 48 mph.
The European Starling may try to lay eggs in the nest of another female.
Starlings are vocal mimics. They copy the songs of other birds like the meadowlark, the American Robin, the Northern flicker and the Woo-Pewee.
And another interesting fact: starlings have a sense of taste. They can taste salt, sugar and bitter (which they might find in acorns and grapes).
Starlings are good fliers and get up to speeds to 48 mph.
The European Starling may try to lay eggs in the nest of another female.
Starlings are vocal mimics. They copy the songs of other birds like the meadowlark, the American Robin, the Northern flicker and the Woo-Pewee.
And another interesting fact: starlings have a sense of taste. They can taste salt, sugar and bitter (which they might find in acorns and grapes).
Schieffelin was also responsible for introducing the House Sparrow, which was released into Brooklyn in New York, in 1851 and by 1900 had spread as far as the Rocky Mountains and is today common across the entire continent. The sparrow too is regarded as a pest, as it is in Australia, where it was introduced at roughly the same time, paradoxically as an experiment in pest control! How badly wrong can an experiment go?
Unfortunately, the introduction of damaging invasive species, is not just well intentioned. Laziness and carelessness - as well as the fluidity of global animal trading, plays a much bigger role. Invasive pythons and monitor lizards, which either escaped or were released from private collections, are currently devastating the Florida Everglades. Aggressive European boars, which were imported for private hunting preserves in the South, are now spreading northward across the country. They tear up crops and can attack and kill people and pets. The list of these invaders are legion and mostly our fault. Because these species did not evolve here and have no natural controls or predators, they are free to multiply and overwhelm natives that compete with them for the same food sources and nesting resources.
Some species are just more adaptable than others to change, and it is these ‘generalists’ that are the most resistant to human efforts to contain them. A perfect example of this is the coyote. Although native to North America, its range was limited generally by the ranges of the American grey wolf - which predated on coyotes. In the first half of the twentieth century, as people spread across and populated the whole continent, the wolves became an economic threat. They predated on our livestock and occasionally threatened people. So the typical response of the Federal and State governments was open hunting seasons and bounty programs where you could get paid money for every wolf ear you could bring in to the local conservation office. Extensive poisoning and trapping programs were also enacted. These programs successfully eradicated the wolf from most of the United States east of the Rockies.
But the more adaptive generalist coyote thrived and filled the voids left by the wolves and spread across the entire U.S. So we used our tried and true methods of shooting, trapping, poisoning and paying for body parts, to remove their economic threat to our livestock. It didn’t work. The more we killed them, the larger their litter sizes became. We find this same dynamic over and over again with some species - particularly invasive, that we try to control.
Of course the echoes of all these self-inflicted invasions are lost on us in history. We don’t notice species disappearing unless they are part of our food chain. Now we have to notice.
So be mindful of how you manage your patch of the world. Favor the local fauna and flora whenever you can.
Of course the echoes of all these self-inflicted invasions are lost on us in history. We don’t notice species disappearing unless they are part of our food chain. Now we have to notice.
So be mindful of how you manage your patch of the world. Favor the local fauna and flora whenever you can.
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