Editing Starling (section)

==Distribution, habitat and movements==
[[File:Chestnut-tailed Starling I IMG 2508.jpg|thumb|The [[chestnut-tailed starling]] is a partial migrant over much of the east of its range, but its movements are poorly understood.]]
Starlings inhabit a wide range of habitats from the [[Arctic Circle]] to the [[Equator]]. The only habitats they do not typically occupy are very dry sandy [[desert]]s. The family is naturally absent from the Americas and from large parts of Australia, but it is present over the majority of Europe, Africa, and Asia. The genus ''[[Aplonis]]'' has also spread widely across the islands of the Pacific, reaching [[Polynesia]], [[Melanesia]], and [[Micronesia]]<ref name = "HBW"/> (in addition one species in the genus ''[[Mino (bird)|Mino]]'' has reached the [[Solomon Islands]]<ref>{{cite book|last=Doughty|first=Chris |author2=Day, Nicholas |author3=Andrew Plant|title=Birds of the Solomons, Vanuatu & New Caledonia|publisher=Christopher Helm|location=London|year=1999|isbn=978-0-7136-4690-0}}</ref>). Also, a species of this genus is the only starling found in northern Australia.<ref name = "HBW"/>

Asian species are most common in evergreen forests; 39 species found in Asia are predominantly forest birds as opposed to 24 found in more open or human modified environments. In contrast to this, African species are more likely to be found in open woodlands and savannah; 33 species are open-area specialists compared to 13 true forest species. The high diversity of species found in Asia and Africa is not matched by Europe, which has one widespread (and very common) species and two more restricted species. The [[European starling]] is both highly widespread and extremely eclectic in its habitat, occupying most types of open habitat. Like many other starling species, it has also adapted readily to human-modified habitat, including farmland, orchards, plantations, and urban areas.<ref name = "HBW"/>

Some species of starlings are [[bird migration|migratory]], either entirely, like [[Shelley's starling]], which breeds in [[Ethiopia]] and [[Somaliland]] and migrates to [[Kenya]], [[Tanzania]], and [[Somalia]], or like the [[white-shouldered starling]], which is migratory in part of its range, but is resident in others.<ref name = "HBW"/>

The European starling was purposely introduced to North America in the 1870s through the 1890s by multiple [[acclimatisation society|acclimatisation societies]], organizations dedicated to introducing European flora and fauna into North America for cultural and economic reasons.<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> A persistent story alleges that [[Eugene Schieffelin]], chairman of the [[American Acclimatization Society]], decided all birds mentioned by [[William Shakespeare]] should be in North America, leading to the introduction of the starling to the U.S.; however, this claim is more fiction than fact.<ref name="Mirsky">{{cite journal |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=call-of-the-reviled|date=May 23, 2008 |journal=Scientific American |title=Shakespeare to blame for introduction of European starlings to U.S |first1=Steve |last1=Mirsky |access-date=November 14, 2012}}</ref><ref name=Fugate2021 /> While Schieffelin and other members of the society did release starlings in [[Central Park]] in 1890, the birds had already been in the U.S. since at least the mid-1870s, and Schieffelin was not inspired to do so by Shakespeare's works.<ref name=Fugate2021 />