The Bard's Bird: The European Starling

European Starling

A species is invasive when it is introduced to an area or ecosystem where it did not exist before, and it's introduction causes significant harm to the new ecosystem, or to the local human population. And the European starling is most certainly invasive.

Unlike many invasive and alien species, the origins of the European starling's invasion can be pinpointed down to the date, location, and man responsible. New York City in the 19^th century saw the creation of the American Acclimatization Society (AAC), a group dedicated to the transportation and introduction of European species to North America. The effects of invasive species were not known or fully understood at the time, and acclimatization societies were not uncommon. Many conversationalists and naturalists at the time even supported such societies.

Already having had some notable success introducing European species to New York, such as the house finch, the then head of the AAC, Eugene Schieffelin, set out to introduce every bird that was mentioned in the works of Shakespeare to America. A list of more than 600 species.

Though largely unsuccessful, Schieffelin's introduction of 100 starlings from 1890-1891 became infamous. The European starling's numbers now number more than 200 million and their range stretches across the continent from New York to California, and from Alaska to Mexico. All due to one passage from Henry the IV:

“The king forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer. But I will find him when he is asleep, and in his ear I’ll holler ‘Mortimer!’ Nay I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion.”

The passage refers to the starling's remarkable ability to mimic the songs of other birds, and an individual may be able to produce up to 60 distinct mimics. In addition to their mimicry, starlings are incredibly aggressive towards other birds, often driving away native species that are significantly larger than themselves such as wood ducks and northern flickers. Surprisingly however, this small, bullying bird may not be as damaging as it seems. Though out completing several species, such as the eastern bluebird, a recent study found that many North American birds remain unaffected by this invader.

In fact, the starling's impact on humans may be more severe than its impact on native ecosystems. With an appetite for crops, and able to eat a third of their body weight a day, starlings may cause up to $800 million in agricultural damage every year. They are also known as one of the biggest avian concerns to airplanes.

6% of all bird-airplane strikes are associated with starlings or blackbirds (which often flock together) and in 1960 a Lockheed Electra aircraft taking off from Boston International Airport hit a flock of starlings just seconds after take-off. The engines shut down and the plane crashed into the harbor below, killing 62 people on board.

Although they may be a pest to many, the starlings seem to be here to stay. The U.S. government has spent millions of dollars and many years at failed attempts to control or eradicate starling populations. Poison, artificial hawks, and even blasting starling alarm calls from the roof of the White House has done little to slow starling growth. With such failures, it is little surprise that the European Starling is one of only three species of bird that is not protected by the U.S. government. But with a growing population and flocks that can reach over 100,000 individuals, protection isn't something they need.

Sources:

http://www.news.cornell.edu/releases/jan99/species_costs.html

http://ec.europa.eu/environment/nature/invasivealien/docs/1_EN_resume_impact_assesment_part1_v3.pdf

http://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/01/opinion/100-years-of-the-starling.html?src=pm

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=call-of-the-reviled

http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=F50912F73B5B137B93C7A8178AD95F438784F9

http://evolutionarythought.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/a-natural-history-lesson-starlings-and-shakespeare/

http://lib.colostate.edu/research/agnic/starlings.html

http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/starlings.html

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/lifehistory

http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/048/articles/introduction

http://www.wbu.com/education/starlings.html

http://www.starlingtalk.com/european_starling.htm

http://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19601004-0

http://icwdm.org/handbook/birds/EuropeanStarlings.asp

The photo above is from: 

http://evolutionarythought.wordpress.com/2011/06/08/a-natural-history-lesson-starlings-and-shakespeare/