Editing Common starling (section)

== Distribution and habitat ==
The global population of common starlings was estimated to be 310&nbsp;million individuals in 2004, occupying a total area of {{convert|8870000|km2|abbr=on}}.<ref name=BirdLifeInternational>{{cite web|url=http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=6815 |title=Common starling ''Sturnus vulgaris'' |author1=Butchart, S |author2=Ekstrom, J |year=2013  |publisher=BirdLife International |access-date=2013-01-12}}</ref> Widespread throughout the Northern Hemisphere, the bird is native to [[Eurasia]] and is found throughout Europe, northern Africa (from [[Morocco]] to [[Egypt]]), India (mainly in the north but regularly extending farther south<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ghorpade|first= Kumar D | year=1973| title=Occurrence of the Starling, ''Sturnus vulgaris'' Linnaeus near Bangalore | journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume=70|issue=3|pages=556–557|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48290563}}</ref> and extending into the Maldives<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Strickland|first1=M J |last2=Jenner|first2=J C|year=1977| title=A report on the birds of Addu Atoll (Maldive Islands)|journal=Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society | volume=74 |pages=487–500|url=https://biodiversitylibrary.org/page/48239274}}</ref>) [[Nepal]], the Middle East including [[Israel]], [[Syria]], [[Iran]], and [[Iraq]], and northwestern China.<ref name=BirdLifeInternational/>

[[File:Sturnus vulgaris stop on migration.jpg|thumb|left|alt=Resting on migration|A flock resting on a pine tree during migration]]
Common starlings in the south and west of Europe and south of latitude 40°N are mainly [[Bird migration|resident]],<ref name= linz/> although other populations migrate from regions where the winter is harsh, the ground frozen and food scarce. Large numbers of birds from northern Europe, Russia and Ukraine migrate south westwards or south eastwards.<ref name=Coward/><ref name=Feare54/> In the autumn, when immigrants are arriving from eastern Europe, many of Britain's common starlings are setting off for [[Iberia]] and North Africa. Other groups of birds are in passage across the country and the pathways of these different streams of bird may cross.<ref name=Coward/> Of the 15,000 birds ringed as nestlings in [[Merseyside]], England, individuals have been recovered at various times of year as far afield as Norway, Sweden, Finland, Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Germany and the [[Low Countries]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.davidnorman.org.uk/MRG/migration_of_starling.htm |title=Migration of starling ''Sturnus vulgaris'' |publisher=Merseyside Ringing Group |access-date=2013-01-12 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061213073506/http://www.davidnorman.org.uk/MRG/migration_of_starling.htm |archive-date=2006-12-13 }}</ref> Small numbers of common starlings have sporadically been observed in Japan and Hong Kong but it is unclear whence these birds originated.<ref name=Feare54/> In North America, northern populations have developed a migration pattern, vacating much of Canada in winter.<ref name=Sibley>Sibley (2000) p. 416.</ref> Birds in the east of the country move southwards, and those from farther west winter in the southwest of the US.<ref name=feare183/>

Common starlings prefer urban or suburban areas where artificial structures and trees provide adequate nesting and [[roosting]] sites. Reedbeds are also favoured for roosting and the birds commonly feed in grassy areas such as farmland, grazing pastures, playing fields, golf courses and airfields where short grass makes foraging easy.<ref name=H1907>Higgins ''et al.'' (2006) pp. 1907–1914.</ref> They occasionally inhabit open forests and woodlands and are sometimes found in shrubby areas such as Australian [[heathland]]. Common starlings rarely inhabit dense, wet forests (i.e. rainforests or wet [[sclerophyll]] forests) but are found in coastal areas, where they nest and roost on cliffs and forage amongst [[seaweed]]. Their ability to adapt to a large variety of habitats has allowed them to disperse and establish themselves in diverse locations around the world resulting in a habitat range from coastal wetlands to [[Alpine climate|alpine]] forests, from sea cliffs to mountain ranges {{convert|1900|m|abbr=on}} above sea level.<ref name=H1907/>

=== Introduced populations ===
The common starling has been introduced to and has successfully established itself in New Zealand, Australia, South Africa, North America, [[Fiji]] and several Caribbean islands. As a result, it has also been able to migrate to [[Thailand]], Southeast Asia and [[New Guinea]].<ref name=H1907/>

==== South America ====
Five individuals conveyed on a ship from England alighted near [[Lago de Maracaibo]] in Venezuela in November 1949, but subsequently vanished.<ref name=long81>Long (1981) pp. 359–363.</ref> In 1987, a small population of common starlings was observed nesting in gardens in the city of [[Buenos Aires]].<ref name=pestnote/><ref name= peris/> Since then, despite some initial attempts at eradication, the bird has been expanding its breeding range at an average rate of {{convert|7.5|km|abbr=on}} per year, keeping within {{convert|30|km|abbr=on}} of the Atlantic coast. In Argentina, the species makes use of a variety of natural and man-made nesting sites, particularly woodpecker holes.<ref name=peris>{{cite journal | last1= Peris | first1= S | last2= Soave | first2= G | last3= Camperi | first3= A | last4= Darrieu | first4= C | last5= Aramburu | first5= R | year= 2005 | title= Range expansion of the European starling ''Sturnus vulgaris'' in Argentina | journal= Ardeola | volume= 52 | issue= 2 | pages= 359–364 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/279603860}}</ref>

==== Australia ====
The common starling was introduced to Australia to consume insect pests of farm crops. Early settlers looked forward to their arrival, believing that common starlings were also important for the pollination of [[flax]], a major agricultural product. Nest-boxes for the newly released birds were placed on farms and near crops. The common starling was introduced to [[Melbourne]] in 1857 and Sydney two decades later.<ref name=H1907/> By the 1880s, established populations were present in the southeast of the country thanks to the work of acclimatisation committees.<ref name=Wooly>Woolnough, Andrew P; Massam, Marion C; Payne, Ron L; Pickles, Greg S "Out on the border: keeping starlings out of Western Australia" in Parkes ''et al.'' (2005) pp. 183–189.</ref> By the 1920s, common starlings were widespread throughout [[Victoria (Australia)|Victoria]], Queensland and [[New South Wales]], but by then they were considered to be pests.<ref name=H1907/> Although common starlings were first sighted in [[Albany, Western Australia]] in 1917, they have been largely prevented from spreading to the state. The wide and arid [[Nullarbor Plain]] provides a natural barrier and control measures have been adopted that have killed 55,000 birds over three decades.<ref name= dewr>Department of the Environment and Water Resources (2007) p. 17.</ref> The common starling has also colonised [[Kangaroo Island]], [[Lord Howe Island]], [[Norfolk Island]] and [[Tasmania]].<ref name=long81/>

==== New Zealand ====
The early settlers in New Zealand cleared the bush and found their newly planted crops were invaded by hordes of caterpillars and other insects deprived of their previous food sources. Native birds were not habituated to living in close proximity to man so the common starling was introduced from Europe along with the [[house sparrow]] to control the pests. It was first brought over in 1862 by the Nelson Acclimatisation Society and other introductions followed. The birds soon became established and are now found all over the country including the subtropical [[Kermadec Islands]] to the north and the equally distant [[Macquarie Island]] far to the south.<ref name = olliver>{{cite web |url=http://www.nzbirds.com/birds/starlings.html |title=Starling |author=Olliver, Narena |year=2005 |publisher=Birds of New Zealand |access-date=2012-12-29}}</ref><ref name =robertson>Robertson & Heather (2005) p. 162</ref>

==== North America ====
[[File:Sturnus vulgaris in Napa Valley 1.jpg|thumb|alt=Flock of starlings|Flock in the [[Napa Valley]], California|left]]

[[File:NorCal2018 Common Starling at Ritz-Calton Half Moon Bay S0116017.jpg|thumb|At [[Half Moon Bay, California|Half Moon Bay]], California]]

[[File:Flying Starling May 2019.jpg|thumb|A European starling in flight, suburban St. Louis, Missouri]]

Various [[acclimatisation society]] records mention instances of starlings being introduced in Cincinnati, Quebec and New York in the 1870s.<ref name="Fugate2021">{{cite journal |last1=Fugate |first1=Lauren |last2=Miller |first2=John MacNeill |title=Shakespeare's Starlings: Literary History and the Fictions of Invasiveness |journal=Environmental Humanities |date=November 1, 2021 |volume=13 |issue=2 |pages=301–322 |doi=10.1215/22011919-9320167 |s2cid=243468840 |url=https://read.dukeupress.edu/environmental-humanities/article/13/2/301/234995/Shakespeare-s-StarlingsLiterary-History-and-the |access-date=November 26, 2021 |issn=2201-1919|doi-access=free }}</ref> As part of a nationwide effort, about 60 common starlings were released in 1890 into New York's [[Central Park]] by [[Eugene Schieffelin]], president of the [[American Acclimatization Society]]. It has been widely reported that he had tried to introduce every bird species mentioned in the works of [[William Shakespeare]] into North America,<ref name=NYT1>{{Cite news | last =Gup | first =Ted  | title =100 Years of the Starling | newspaper =The New York Times | location = New York| date = 1990-09-01| url =https://www.nytimes.com/1990/09/01/opinion/100-years-of-the-starling.html?src=pm }}</ref><ref name="Mirsky">{{cite journal |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=call-of-the-reviled|date=2008-05-23 |journal=[[Scientific American]]|title=Shakespeare to Blame for Introduction of European Starlings to U.S. |first1=Steve |last1=Mirsky }}</ref> but this claim has been traced to an essay in 1948 by naturalist [[Edwin Way Teale]], whose notes appear to indicate that it was speculation.<ref name="Fugate2021" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Strycker|first1=Noah|title=The Thing with Feathers|date=2014|publisher=Penguin Group|isbn=978-1-59448-635-7|page=42}}</ref> About the same date, the Portland Song Bird Club released 35 pairs of common starlings in Portland, Oregon.<ref name="wdfw.wa.gov">{{cite web |url=http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/starlings.html |title=Starlings |author=Link, Russell |work=Living with Wildlife |publisher=Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife |access-date=2013-01-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120908174746/http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/starlings.html |archive-date=2012-09-08 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Earlier introductions are recorded to have died out within a few years, with the 1890 New York and Portland introductions reported as being the most successful.<ref name="Hofmeister">{{cite journal |url=https://doi.org/10.1111/mec.15806 |title=Environmental correlates of genetic variation in the invasive European starling in North America |journal=Molecular Ecology |first1=Natalie |last1=Hofmeister |first2=Scott |last2=Werner |first3=Irby |last3=Lovette|year=2021 |volume=30 |issue=5 |pages=1251–1263 |doi=10.1111/mec.15806 |pmid=33464634 |bibcode=2021MolEc..30.1251H |s2cid=231642505 }}</ref>

The population of the common starling in North America is estimated to have grown to 150&nbsp;million, occupying an area extending from southern Canada and Alaska to Central America.<ref name="Adeney">{{cite web |url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Sturnus_vulgaris.html |title=European starling (''Sturnus vulgaris'') |author=Adeney, J M |year=2001 |work=Introduced Species Summary Project |access-date=2013-01-01| publisher = Columbia University }}</ref><ref name="wdfw.wa.gov" />

==== Polynesia ====
The common starling appears to have arrived in Fiji in 1925 on Ono-i-lau and [[Vatoa]] islands. It may have colonised from New Zealand via [[Raoul Island|Raoul]] in the [[Kermadec Islands]] where it is abundant, that group being roughly equidistant between New Zealand and Fiji. Its spread in Fiji has been limited, and there are doubts about the population's viability. Tonga was colonised at about the same date and the birds there have been slowly spreading north through the group.<ref>{{cite journal | last= Watling | first= D | year= 1982 | title= Fiji's sedentary starlings | journal= Notornis | volume= 29 | url= http://notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_29_3.pdf | pages= 227–230 | access-date= 2013-01-13 | archive-date= 2015-07-18 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150718191531/http://notornis.osnz.org.nz/system/files/Notornis_29_3.pdf | url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name= watling142>Watling (2003) pp. 142–143</ref>

==== South Africa ====
In South Africa, the common starling was introduced in 1897 by [[Cecil Rhodes]]. It spread slowly, and by 1954, had reached [[Clanwilliam, Western Cape|Clanwilliam]] and [[Port Elizabeth]]. It is now common in the southern Cape region, thinning out northwards to the Johannesburg area. It is present in the [[Western Cape]], the [[Eastern Cape]] and the [[Free State (province)|Free State]] provinces of South Africa and lowland [[Lesotho]], with occasional sightings in [[KwaZulu-Natal]], [[Gauteng]] and around the town of [[Oranjemund]] in [[Namibia]]. In Southern Africa populations appear to be resident and the bird is strongly associated with man and [[Anthropogenic biome|anthropogenic habitats]]. It favours irrigated land and is absent from regions where the ground is baked so dry that it cannot probe for insects. It may compete with native birds for crevice nesting sites, but the indigenous species are probably more disadvantaged by destruction of their natural habitat than they are by inter-specific competition. It breeds from September to December and outside the breeding season may congregate in large flocks, often roosting in [[reedbed]]s. It is the most common bird species in urban and agricultural areas.<ref name =craig>{{cite web |url=http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/757.pdf |title=European starling ''Sturnus vulgaris'' |author=Craig, Adrian  |work=The Atlas of South African Birds |access-date=2012-01-04}}</ref>

==== West Indies ====
In 1901, the inhabitants of [[Saint Kitts]] petitioned the Colonial Secretary for a ″government grant of starlings to exterminate″ an outbreak of grasshoppers which was causing enormous damage to their crops.<ref>{{cite news|title=Starlings v Grasshoppers|work=The Cornubian and Redruth Times|date=15 February 1901|page=3}}</ref> The common starling was introduced to Jamaica in 1903, and the Bahamas and Cuba were colonised naturally from the US.<ref name=linz>{{cite journal | last1= Linz | first1= George M | last2= Homan | first2= H Jeffrey | last3= Gaulker | first3= Shannon M | last4= Penry | first4= Linda B | last5= Bleier | first5= William J | year= 2007 | title= European starlings: a review of an invasive species with far-reaching impacts | journal= Managing Vertebrate Invasive Species | volume= Paper 24 | pages= 378–386 | url= http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/catalog/17532 | access-date= 2013-01-22 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140517120849/http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/catalog/17532 | archive-date= 2014-05-17 | url-status= dead }}</ref><ref name= lever>Lever (2010) p. 197.</ref> This bird is fairly common but local in Jamaica, [[Grand Bahama]] and [[Bimini]], and is rare in the rest of the Bahamas and eastern Cuba.<ref name= Raffaele>Raffaele ''et al'' (2003) p. 126.</ref><ref name= Arlott>Arlott (2010) p. 126., "'''Status and range:''' Introduced. Fairly common, but local. In Jamaica, and on Grand Bahama and Biminis in Bahamas. Rare elsewhere in Bahamas and eastern Cuba October through March."</ref>