Day Sixteen - Fear

There are no photos today. I was able to look at the babies, and they look exactly the same as yesterday... the changes aren't so rapid now that they are nearly grown. But, they are extremely fearful of me (as they should be) and it seemed to really upset them that I was nearby. One actually flapped his way out of the nest onto the top of the propane tank. This is a very dangerous place for a baby starling who cannot yet fly, because it is slippery and round.

So, since I have no pictures for you today, instead here are some facts about starlings.

• Starlings belong to the family of birds which includes vocal mimics known as myna birds.
• Starling beaks are yellow during the spring breeding season. By fall the beak becomes brown, and it remains brown through winter.
• Adults can nest three times a year. The young fledge between two and three weeks of age.
• The young begin to fly between 18 and 21 days of age.
• Starlings were originally brought to the USA, to be precise to Central park in New York, from England. The reason is very poetic – there was an unfulfilled plan to introduce all the birds, described in the works of the famous British playwright William Shakespeare, to North America. In 1890 they were released first small flock of 60 starlings and the next year further 40 starlings. These days there are millions of starlings in North America, which are direct descendants of the initial group of 100 starlings.
• European starling chicks are helpless at birth. At first the parents feed them only soft, animal foods, but as they grow older the parents bring a wider variety of plant and animal foods.
• The most common animals eaten by the starling are centipedes, spiders, moths, earthworms. The most popular plants are berries, seeds, apples, pears, plums, and cherries.

Sad but interesting:
433.301 Starlings and crows; bounty for killing; resolution of board of supervisors.
Sec. 1. - Every person being an inhabitant of this state, who shall kill a starling or a crow in any organized township, village or city in this state shall be entitled to receive a bounty of 3 cents for each starling thus killed, and 10 cents for each crow thus killed, to be allowed and paid in the manner hereinafter provided: Provided, That this law shall not be obligatory on any county unless the board of supervisors at the October session shall adopt a resolution to that effect, either as to starlings or as to crows or both, and then only to the amount appropriated for such purpose by said board, and shall not be effective in any city or village located in any such county in case the governing body thereof shall adopt a resolution to that effect. History: 1941, Act 152, Eff. Jan. 10, 1942 ;--CL 1948, 433.301. (from http://www.outdoor-michigan.com/Weird_Laws.htm)


Click here to hear a starling.

Facts are courtesy of:
www.pleasebekind.com/starlings.html
http://wdfw.wa.gov/wlm/living/starlings.htm#facts
http://www.wildanimalsonline.com/birds/commonstarling.php
http://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/site/accounts/information/Sturnus_vulgaris.html