Hi Cody,
Just to let you know a little about the history of the European Starling. Not many a "Birding" book speaks very highly of them as they are regarded as pests. They are however a very beautiful bird in their own right, especially when the sunlight shines on their iridescent feathers, the colours can be incredible. The real problem with Starlings is that there are way way way too many of them.
- introduced to North America in 1890 by releasing 60 birds in New York's Central Park
- those 60 birds stormed over the North American continent and reached the Pacific Coast in a mere 60 years
- during their march across the continent they outcompeted many native birds of their nesting habitats
- within 100 years of their release, the numbers of Starlings grew to well over 200,000,000
- over the years many attempts have been made to reduce the "out of control" numbers of these aggressors, sometimes killing off well over one million birds at a time and it hasn't put a dent in the population
The next time you go out birding for Eastern Bluebirds, Red-headed Woodpeckers, Great Crested Flycatchers as well as many other native birds and you find them very difficult to locate, you can thank the European Starling in a large part for their declining numbers. Hope this helps you.
Happy Birding!
Walter
