ETYM Old Eng. sterlyng, a dim. of Old Eng. stare, AS. staer; akin to AS. stearn, German star, staar, Old High Germ. stara, Icel. starri, stari, Swed. stare, Dan. staer, Latin sturnus. Related to Stare a starling.
Gregarious birds native to the Old World.
Any member of a large widespread Old World family (Sturnidae) of chunky, dark, generally gregarious birds of the order Passeriformes. The European starling Sturnus vulgaris, common in N Eurasia, has been naturalized in North America from the late 19th century. The black, speckled plumage is glossed with green and purple. Its own call is a bright whistle, but it is a mimic of the songs of other birds.
It is about 20 cm/8 in long.
Strikingly gregarious in feeding, flight, and roosting, it often becomes a pest in large cities, where it becomes attached to certain buildings as “dormitories”, returning each night from omnivorous foraging in the countryside. If disturbed, starlings have been known to lay eggs in the nests of other birds before starting a new nest with their mate elsewhere. + prikaži više