Starlings are in chattering class of birds
IN my garden there is an alarm system to warn me when I haven’t restocked the bird table. If it isn’t the sparrows noisily berating me from the bush at the back, it’s the ominous sight of 20 starlings landing on walls, roofs and telegraph wires.
And they don’t just sit there quietly, they chatter away with their vast vocabulary; chiding me for not being out at 7am with some nosh.
When you feed them the noise rises as they squabble over every last seed, raisin or lump of fat.
Being relatives of mynah birds, starlings possess this impressive vocal range and the ability to mimic other birds.
If you listen to them when they gather together you will hear purrs, rattles, trills and whistles all melding together.
Males will whistle to each other and warble songs at the local females.
These brilliant birds have specific noises for fear and aggression when mobbing a predator, which also involves a lot of wing flapping.
Starlings are also beautiful.
From a distance they look black but as you get closer, particularly in sunlight, you will spot a wonderful green, blue or purple sheen.
It makes the birds look almost metallic.
In winter they develop a spotty coat.
Of course, starlings are best known for winter murmurations.
A murmuration is a group of starlings and it was a delightful surprise when I first heard the term – it is such a perfect description of them swooping and swooshing like a wave.
You often see groups over motorways gracefully swishing from one part of the sky to another.
It’s like someone splashing paint onto a blank canvas.
In North Lancashire murmurations can number in the thousands and the biggest are at Blackpool Pier, our Brockholes nature reserve in Preston and the RSPB’s Leyton Moss reserve.
These large groups are a defence against predators, who are put off by the sheer numbers.
They are also a defence against the weather, with birds landing in woodland and roosting together at night.
They pack tightly into trees and the chattering gets even louder.
While starlings still seem numerous in our gardens, numbers have plummeted in fields and woodlands over the past half century.
So look after our wonderful stars of our garden and watch out for their murmurations over the coming months.
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