The European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) has become a very common resident of New Brunswick even though it is an introduced species. Its former range was Europe. It breeds throughout all of Europe. It is a permanent resident in most of central and southern Europe. It also winters in Spain and North Africa.
How did it get here and become so common? Well, it was brought to New York City in the 1890s by a group who were trying to bring to North America all the birds mentioned by Shakespeare. They brought 100 European Starlings to Central Park and they were able to get a foothold from there. The species found favourable habitat over most of North America and we now have a huge population. It is estimated over 200 million European Starlings live from Alaska to Mexico.
According to Squires in The Birds of New Brunswick, our first record was recorded by Moses in 1924. Specimens were later taken or found in 1926 and 1928. A nest was found in Salisbury in 1928. The first record from Fredericton (Squires) was in 1929. The population grew dramatically and they began to compete with our native Eastern Bluebirds for nesting sites which led to the decline in that species. Starlings gather in huge flocks after the breeding season. And that leads us to the topic of this post.
Shown above are the piers for the former bridge crossing the St. John River at Fredericton. One pier has a structure built on top which covers the top of the pier. This was placed there in earlier times for an unknown purpose. The interesting thing about this covering is that the Starlings have discovered that the area under it provides an excellent roosting site. It is accessed from the side shown in the photo and provides a large covered area where the birds can roost in close proximity providing warmth and protection from predators. I am surprised the birds are smart enough to discover this. Maybe I shouldn't be!
It has been observed by local birders that large numbers of Starlings enter this roosting site at dusk. Twice this last week I have watched this interesting spectacle. Starlings appear in the sky in both small and large flocks. The small flocks join the large flocks and they perform impressive aerial manoeuvres while getting organized in small groups to enter the roost. In some ways it is similar to Chimney Swifts swirling over a chimney prior to going to roost. What is different about the Starlings is that they 'murmur'. We were able to watch this as they flew upward and around seemingly waiting for their chance to enter the roost.
When Starlings murmur, the flock acts as one entity. It swells and shrinks in one flowing unit. It becomes a large ball which narrows in at the 'waist' and then falls out into a long rolling line. It pulses, swirls and twists in a dance that looks choreographed. While I watched I saw flocks of 50 to 100, flocks of 200 and one of 400 individuals. I estimated there were about 1000 starlings going to roost that night. It was reported by another birder that 1400 went to roost while he was watching. All these birds entered the roost by flying into the face of the pier and slipping under the overhang of the top. This was done in groups of up to about 30 birds.
I wondered where all the Starlings had come from. Our Fredericton Christmas Count recorded 578 this year. It appears that Starlings come in from outside the city to take advantage of this roost.
This week the Starlings have another obstacle to getting into their roost, a Peregrine Falcon. All the time we watched the Starling spectacle a Peregrine Falcon perched on one of the piers watching the Starlings. It tried unsuccessfully a few times to catch one but the Starlings appeared to be faster and more agile than the falcon. The falcon appeared to be a juvenile because it showed a bit of brown in its plumage. That would explain its inexperience. It is unusual to see a Peregrine Falcon in Fredericton so I was delighted to watch it. Shown below is the Peregrine Falcon.
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