Starling is a bird from the Passerine order, the Starling family and the Starling genus. It also belongs to the singing type and is distributed throughout Europe, partly in South Africa, North America, Australia and New Zealand. Some individuals are sedentary, while others are migratory. It depends on the habitat of the starlings.
Instructions
Step 1
What do these birds look like? Starlings are quite small, with a body length of only 18-22 centimeters in adults. At the same time, the wingspan of birds of this genus reaches 40 centimeters, and the weight is 75-80 grams. For an animal of this size, a starling has a rather massive body with a short neck, on which there is a long and sharp beak, slightly curved downward. Moreover, the beak can change, depending on the season: during the breeding season it is yellow, and the rest of the time it is black.
Step 2
Upon closer examination, the starling can be distinguished from other birds by the karya iris of the eye, wide at the base and narrowed at the ends of the wings, which, in relation to the rest of the body, look rather short. Outwardly, males and females do not differ from each other: they are equally black, often with a metallic sheen and a greenish, purple or lilac tint on the edges of the feathers. The starling's tail is short, only 6-6.5 centimeters in an adult bird, straight at the very tip.
Step 3
Starlings prefer to settle in flat areas, not climbing high in mountainous areas. It gets along well with neighbors not only in the wild, but also next to humans. Usually these are farms, villages and towns, but almost never noisy and large cities. Bird habitats include swamps, salt marshes, woodlands and steppes.
Step 4
The average lifespan of starlings, according to Kaliningrad ornithologists, in the wild is 12 years. The mating season for birds of this species occurs in early spring, immediately after migration. So in the northern hemisphere of the planet it is March-July, and in the southern hemisphere - September-December. There are three clutches of starling eggs per year. The first is immediately after the breeding season, the second after 25-30 days and the third after 45-55 days after the first.
Step 5
Starlings are omnivorous birds that can be content with both plant and animal food. They love earthworms, insect larvae, grasshoppers, caterpillars, spiders and butterflies, as well as seeds and fruits of various berries, apples, pears, plums and other plants. Unfortunately, starlings, if they are abundant in one place, can also cause serious damage to grain crops or vineyards. Starlings are quite intelligent birds. For example, if the found fruit is protected by a very hard shell, they look for a small hole in the surface, insert a beak into it and open the shell like the action of a small lever. Then they get to the desired juicy food.
