European Starling

1. Glossy black plumage with purple-green sheen and yellow bill in breeding season; speckled appearance and dark bill in winter

2. Stocky build with a short tail and pointed, triangular wings

3. Juveniles are dull brown and lack iridescence

ntroduced to Australia in the 185s and 186s by acclimatisation societies aiming to make the new colonies feel more European, starlings have since become one of the country's most notorious invasive birds. Starlings are omnivorous, feeding on insects, worms, fruit, seeds, and food scraps, primarily by probing the ground with their bills. They are cavity nesters, preferring tree hollows, building crevices, or gaps in urban structures. Both parents build the nest, incubate the eggs, and feed the young. Females lay 4–6 pale blue eggs per clutch, with two to three broods per year. Incubation lasts about 12 days, and chicks fledge after 14–21 days. Starlings are highly social outside the breeding season, forming large flocks for roosting and feeding. As an invasive species, their aggressive competition for nesting sites has contributed to declines in some native species, and they are considered a major agricultural pest due to crop damage and fouling of urban areas.

European Starlings are common in open country, farmland, urban parks, gardens, and towns across southeastern Australia, but avoid dense forests and arid regions. They are often seen foraging in large, noisy flocks on lawns, sports fields, and recently ploughed paddocks, and readily exploit food scraps in urban areas.