YOUR QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Q Does Rosy Starling migrate with Dunlin? At South Milton Sands beach, Devon, on 10 September 2021 at 8 am there was a group of nine species all feeding actively around seaweed freshly washed ashore, on the eastern corner of the beach, piled up from strong onshore winds.
The assemblage of species comprised a group of 20 Common Starlings, one juvenile Rosy Starling, five Dunlin, three Sanderling, five Rock Pipits ( petrosus) four Northern Wheatears, five White Wagtails, Black-headed Gulls and Mediterranean Gull.
Shirihai and Svensson’s Handbook of Western Palearctic Birds vol II page 288 shows a photo of juvenile Rosy Starling with a flock of Dunlin and Common Starlings. Is this a coincidence or does Rosy Starling migrate in mixed flocks with Dunlin and Common Starling?
Could this have been a migratory flock of Dunlin, Sanderling, Rosy Starling, and possibly Northern Wheatear, that all migrated together from eastern Europe, or was it just a random assemblage of species that happened to meet together at a rich food source?
Simon Moffat, via email A Scott Mayson, BirdTrack organiser, replies: “Rosy Starling is a bird of Asia and only occurs as a vagrant in the UK, usually during irruption years such as the one seen this year. It will often associate with Common Starlings in this country and as a result will end up feeding in similar locations to the local starlings.
“At coastal locations where seaweed can be exposed during lowtides Common Starlings will often forage among the seaweed as it can be rich in insects; as a result, any vagrant Rosy Starling could also end up feeding in these areas. Dunlin by their very nature will equally be attracted to these insect-rich seaweed beds and mixed assemblages of Dunlin, Sanderling, Common Starling and Rosy Starling could result.
“As Dunlin summer and winter in different areas to Rosy Starling there would normally be little chance of them coming into contact with each other and as such it would be highly unlikely for them to migrate together. This is a case of several species exploiting the same food resource at the same time, rather than a mixed species flock migrating together.”