22 September 2024
What number of occasions have you ever seen a chook and thought, “Oh, it’s only a starling.” Properly, in Spain it’s not simply a starling, it’s a spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor). We noticed this Life Chook noticed almost every single day on the WINGS Spain in Autumn birding tour.
Spotless starlings are similar to our acquainted European (or frequent) starlings. They sing wiry songs and make scratchy noises. They hang around on wires and squabble with one another. They select related nest websites to frequent starlings and can even nest communally with them. The massive distinction is that spotless starlings haven’t any spots. They don’t have the “stars” that gave the starling its identify.
Spotless starlings look oily black within the breeding season …
… and really faintly noticed within the non-breeding season.
In the meantime, frequent or European starlings (Sturnis vulgaris) are noticed all yr lengthy and are discovered all over the world as a result of people launched them.
In 2023 a group of scientists used genetics to find out the International invasion historical past and native decline of the frequent starling: insights by means of genetics. (See map beneath.) The frequent starling’s best success has been their invasion of North America.
Apparently, I didn’t see any frequent starlings in southern Spain although the map says they’re there.
We take European starlings without any consideration as a result of they’re frequent and stay near us. It was arduous to not dismiss spotless starlings with the identical “ho hum” after I’d seen them many days in a row. 😉
(images from Wikimedia Commons; click on on the captions to see the originals)
