9 Facts About Starlings an Infographic

Fast Facts About the Starling Bird

• Scientific name: Sturnus vulgaris
• Average weight: 2 to 3.6 ounces
• Average wingspan: 12 to 16 inches

9 Interesting Facts About Starling Birds

1. Starling birds are at home in urban, suburban, and agricultural settings, tolerating areas of high human density and activity while frequently scavenging around dumps and landfills.
2. A migrating flock of starlings can number 100,000 birds, and they roost communally in flocks that sometimes contain as many as a million birds.
3. Starlings pair up in spring and summer to nest and raise their young, producing from three to eight eggs per clutch.
4. Starlings range from Alaska to Florida and northern Mexico, with an estimated 200 million starlings across North America.
5. Large flocks of starlings sometimes join with grackles and blackbirds to cause serious damage to agricultural crops, accounting for an estimated $800 million in annual crop damages.
6. In urban and suburban areas, starling nests built into building cavities can pose a fire hazard as new nests compound combustible materials, and the birds can also get stuck in chimneys and metal flues.
7. Starling birds can enter a round hole just 1-5/8 inches in diameter, or a slot entrance only 1-5/16 inches tall (with some entering a 1-1/4 inch slot).
8. Starlings are bold, aggressive scavengers capable of quickly destroying crops of strawberries, blueberries, grapes, tomatoes, peaches, figs, apples, and cherries, alongside vast stores of grains and seeds.
9. Starling droppings can contain the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum—the cause of histoplasmosis in humans—and are highly acidic, eroding paint and degrading the structural integrity of many building materials.