Editing Starling (section)

{{Short description|Family of birds}}
{{About|the bird family||Starling (disambiguation)}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name              =
| image             = Lamprotornis hildebrandti -Tanzania-8-2c.jpg
| image_caption     = [[Hildebrandt's starling]]<br/>(''Lamprotornis hildebrandti'')
| taxon             = Sturnidae
| authority         = [[Constantine Samuel Rafinesque|Rafinesque]], 1815
| subdivision_ranks = [[Genus|Genera]]
| subdivision       = Nearly 30, see text.
}}

'''Starlings''' are small to medium-sized [[passerine|passerine (perching)]] [[bird]]s known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate  [[swarm behaviour|swarming]] behavior, known as '''[[Starlings#Murmuration|murmuration]]'''. 

Starlings belong to the [[family (biology)|family]] '''Sturnidae''', common name of Sturnid. The Sturnidae are named for the genus ''[[Sturnus]]'', which in turn comes from the [[Latin]] word for starling, ''sturnus''. The family contains 128 species which are divided into 36 genera. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called [[myna]]s, and many African species are known as [[Lamprotornis|glossy starlings]] because of their [[iridescence|iridescent]] [[Feather|plumage]]. Starlings are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as northern Australia and the islands of the tropical [[Pacific]]. Several European and Asian species have been introduced to these areas, as well as North America, [[Hawaii]], and [[New Zealand]], where they generally compete for habitats with native birds and are considered to be [[invasive species]]. The starling species familiar to most people in Europe and North America is the [[common starling]], and throughout much of [[Asia]] and the Pacific.

Having strong feet, their flight is strong and direct, and they are very [[gregarious]]. Their preferred habitat is fairly open country, they eat [[insect]]s and [[fruit]], and most species nest in holes and lay blue or white [[bird egg|eggs]]. Several species live around human habitation and are effectively [[omnivore]]s. Many species search for prey such as [[Beetle#Reproduction and development|grub]]s by "open-bill probing", that is, forcefully opening the bill after inserting it into a crevice, thus expanding the hole and exposing the prey; this behaviour is referred to by the German verb ''zirkeln'' (pronounced {{IPA|de|ˈtsɪʁkl̩n|}}).<ref>{{cite journal |author1=East R.  |author2=R. P. Pottinger  |name-list-style=amp |title=(''Sturnus vulgaris'' L.) predation on grass grub (''Costelytra zealandica'' (White), Melolonthinae) populations in Canterbury |journal=New Zealand Journal of Agricultural Research |date=November 1975 |volume=18 |issue=4 |pages=417–452 |issn=0028-8233 |doi=10.1080/00288233.1975.10421071 |doi-access=free |hdl=10182/2197 |hdl-access=free }} (See p.429.)</ref>
 
Starlings have diverse and complex vocalizations and have been known to embed sounds from their surroundings into their own calls, including [[car alarm]]s and human speech patterns. The birds can recognize particular individuals by their calls and are the subject of research into the evolution of [[human language]].<ref>{{ cite web | last=Zimmer | first=Carl | date=2 May 2006 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/02/science/02song.html | title=Starlings' listening skills may shed light on language evolution | work=The New York Times | access-date=14 January 2009}}</ref>