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Make a donation
Membership builds our community and gives us a predictable income, which lets us plan and sustain longer projects that can have a greater impact. The more members we have, the more we can do to protect the Sussex countryside and coast.
Overview
The Starling is a familiar bird of farmland, parkland, gardens and towns. Sociable birds, Starlings spend a lot of their time in large flocks, roosting and performing sweeping, aerial displays – they can often be seen moving fluidly through a wintry sky.
Starlings eat insects and fruit, and will visit birdtables and feeders. They make untidy nests in holes in trees or in buildings, in which the female lays five to seven eggs. Both parents raise the chicks.
Key Facts
- Adult Starlings are a beautiful, oily black colour, with a purple and green sheen. In the winter, they are covered in tiny beige spots. Young Starlings are dark grey-brown.
- Enormous winter flocks of Starlings can number more than a million birds! These flocks are predated upon by Peregrine Falcons, but the flock can be seen wheeling and diving as one great pattern as individuals try to avoid being caught.
- Length: 22cm Wingspan: 40cm Weight: 78g Average lifespan: 5 years
Status
Classified in the UK as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern 5: the Red List for Birds (2021). Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981. Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.
Seasonality
All year round
Video
Magic in the Sky: Brighton’s Starling Murmurations
Most winter evenings in Brighton, in the centre of the city, you can witness one of nature’s greatest spectacles – Starling murmurations.
