Editing Common starling (section)

=== Benefits and problems ===
[[File:FLi 622.jpg|thumb|right|alt=Starlings on wires|Congregating on wires in France]]
Since common starlings eat insect pests such as [[wireworm]]s, they are considered beneficial in northern Eurasia, and this was one of the reasons given for introducing the birds elsewhere. Around 25&nbsp;million [[nest box]]es were erected for this species in the former [[Soviet Union]], and common starlings were found to be effective in controlling the grass grub ''[[Costelytra zealandica]]'' in New Zealand.<ref name = feare183/> The original Australian introduction was facilitated by the provision of nest boxes to help this mainly [[Insectivore|insectivorous]] bird to breed successfully,<ref name=H1907/> and even in the US, where this is a pest species, the [[United States Department of Agriculture|Department of Agriculture]] acknowledges that vast numbers of insects are consumed by common starlings.<ref name=colostate>{{cite web |url=http://lib.colostate.edu/research/agnic/starlings.html |title=European starlings |date=2011-09-27 |work=Wildlife Damage Management |publisher=USDA Wildlife Services |access-date=2012-12-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130201031243/http://lib.colostate.edu/research/agnic/starlings.html |archive-date=2013-02-01 }}</ref>

Common starlings introduced to areas such as Australia or North America, where other members of the genus are absent, may affect native species through competition for nest holes. In North America, [[chickadee]]s, [[nuthatch]]es, [[woodpecker]]s, [[purple martin]]s and other [[swallow]]s may be affected.<ref name="wdfw.wa.gov"/><ref name= fan>Federation of Alberta Naturalists (2007) p. 374.</ref> In Australia, competitors for nesting sites include the [[crimson rosella|crimson]] and [[eastern rosella]]s.<ref name=Pell>{{cite journal| last1= Pell| first1= A S| last2= Tidemann| first2= C R| year= 1997| title= The impact of two exotic hollow-nesting birds on two native parrots in savannah and woodland in eastern Australia| journal= Biological Conservation| volume= 79| issue= 2/3| pages= 145–153| url= http://www.indianmynaaction.org.au/documents/Pell_Tidemann_myna_impacts1997.pdf| doi= 10.1016/S0006-3207(96)00112-7| bibcode= 1997BCons..79..145P| access-date= 2013-01-10| archive-date= 2015-02-28| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20150228082055/http://indianmynaaction.org.au/documents/Pell_Tidemann_myna_impacts1997.pdf| url-status= dead}}</ref> For its role in the decline of local native species and the damages to agriculture, the common starling has been included in the [[IUCN]] [[List of the world's 100 worst invasive species]].<ref>{{cite web |title=100 of the World's Worst Invasive Alien Species |work=Global Invasive Species Database |publisher=Invasive Species Specialist Group, [[IUCN]] |url=http://www.issg.org/database/species/search.asp?st=100ss&fr=1&str=&lang=EN |access-date=2013-04-25}}</ref>[[File:Sturnus vulgaris no.JPG|thumb|alt=Starling eating fruit|Feeding on a windfall apple|left]]European, or common, starlings are habitat generalists meaning they are able to exploit a multitude of habitats, nest sites and food sources. This, coupled with them being lowland birds that easily coexist with humans, enables them to take advantage of other native birds, most particularly woodpecker.<ref name="columbiauni-invasionbio">{{Cite web|title=Invasion Biology Introduced Species Summary Project – Columbia University|url=http://www.columbia.edu/itc/cerc/danoff-burg/invasion_bio/inv_spp_summ/Sturnus_vulgaris.html|access-date=2020-10-05|website=columbia.edu}}</ref> European starlings are considered aggressive [[omnivore]]s that utilize an open-bill probing technique that gives them an evolutionary advantage over birds that are [[frugivore]]s.<ref name="auto1">{{Cite journal|last=BROCHIER B. VANGELUWE D. VAN DEN BERG T.P.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/947048499|title=Alien invasive birds|journal=Revue Scientifique et Technique (International Office of Epizootics)|date=2010-08-01|volume=29|issue=2|pages=217–25|pmid=20919578|oclc=947048499}}</ref> Their aggressive and gregarious behaviour in terms of food thus allows them to outcompete native species. Common starlings are also aggressive in the creation of their nest cavities. Often, starlings will usurp a nest site, for example a tree hollow, and fill it rapidly with bedding and contaminants compared to other species, like the native parrots, that use little to no bedding.<ref name="auto1"/> As cavity nesters, they are able to outcompete many native species in terms of habitat and nest sites.

Common starlings can eat and damage fruit in orchards such as [[grape]]s, [[peach]]es, [[olive]]s, [[Ribes|currant]]s and [[tomato]]es or dig up newly sown grain and sprouting crops.<ref name="pestnote" /><ref name="feareconf" /> They may also eat animal feed and distribute seeds through their droppings. In eastern Australia, weeds like [[Asparagus asparagoides|bridal creeper]], [[blackberry]] and [[Chrysanthemoides monilifera|boneseed]] are thought to have been spread by common starlings.<ref name="aws">{{cite web | title= Starlings: a threat to Australia's unique ecosystems | url= http://awsassets.wwf.org.au/downloads/sp061_fs_starling_03aug06.pdf | publisher= Threatened Species Network | access-date= 2013-01-10 | archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20130521030444/http://awsassets.wwf.org.au/downloads/sp061_fs_starling_03aug06.pdf | archive-date= 2013-05-21 | url-status= dead }}</ref> Agricultural damage in the US is estimated as costing about US$800{{nbsp}}million annually.<ref name="colostate" /> This bird is not considered to be as damaging to agriculture in South Africa as it is in the United States.<ref name="iziko">{{cite web |url=http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/sturnidae/sturnus_vulgaris.htm |title=''Sturnus vulgaris'' (Common starling, Eurasian starling, European starling) |work=Biodiversity Explorer |publisher=IZIKO, Museums of Cape Town |access-date=2012-12-30 |archive-date=2016-03-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304054701/http://www.biodiversityexplorer.org/birds/sturnidae/sturnus_vulgaris.htm |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Common starlings take advantage of agricultural fields, livestock facilities, and other human related sources of food and nest sites. Starlings often assault crops such as grapes, olives, and cherries by consuming excessive amounts of crops in large flock sizes and in new grain fields, starlings pull up young plants and eat the seeds.<ref name="columbiauni-invasionbio"/> In caged trials, it was shown that starlings eat {{cvt|7–23|g}} of animal food daily and {{cvt|20–40|g}} of plant food meaning a decent portion of crops are consumed by these birds.<ref name="bad ref">{{Cite web|date=2014-05-17|title=EUROPEAN STARLINGS: A REVIEW OF AN INVASIVE SPECIES WITH FAR-REACHING IMPACTS|url=http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=17532&content=PDF|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140517192406/http://naldc.nal.usda.gov/naldc/download.xhtml?id=17532&content=PDF|access-date=2020-10-05|archive-date=2014-05-17}}</ref> Bird damage to grapes in 1968 cost upwards to $4.4{{nbsp}}million while losing almost 17% of the crops.<ref name="bad ref"/> Common starlings also often congregate at feeding troughs to eat grain and concurrently contaminate the food and water sources provided for livestock with their droppings.<ref name="columbiauni-invasionbio"/> For example, high protein supplements added to cattle feed are selectively eaten by common starlings.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Johnson, Ron J.|url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/28283265|title=Starling management in agriculture|date=1992|publisher=[Cooperative Extension, Institute of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Nebraska-Lincoln]|oclc=28283265}}</ref> In 1968, the cost of cattle rations consumed during winter by starlings was $84 per 1,000 starlings and is proposed to be much more expensive today given an increase in current cattle feed costs.<ref name="bad ref"/> The English or house sparrow ([[House sparrow|''Passer domesticus'']]) and the common starling are considerable agricultural pests, together causing an estimated US$1{{nbsp}}billion per year in crop damages.<ref>{{Citation|last=Pimentel|first=David|title=Economic and environmental threats of alien plant, animal, and microbe invasions*|date=2002-06-13|url=http://dx.doi.org/10.1201/9781420041668.ch17|work=Biological Invasions|pages=307–329|publisher=CRC Press|doi=10.1201/9781420041668.ch17|doi-broken-date=2024-11-11 |isbn=978-0-8493-0836-9|access-date=2020-10-05|url-access=subscription}}</ref>

The large size of flocks can also cause problems. The large roosts of the common starling pose many safety hazards for aircraft, mainly including the clogging of engines that concurrently shutdown the plane into descent.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Chow|first=James|title=Sturnus vulgaris (common starling)|url=https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Sturnus_vulgaris/|access-date=2020-10-05|website=Animal Diversity Web|language=en}}</ref> One of the worst instances of this was the [[Eastern Air Lines Flight 375]] incident in [[Boston]] in 1960, when 62 people died after a [[turboprop]] airliner flew into a flock and plummeted into the sea at [[Winthrop, Massachusetts|Winthrop]] Harbor.<ref>{{cite book |title=Bird Strike: The Crash of the Boston Electra |last=Kalafatas |first=Michael N. |year=2010 |publisher=Brandeis |isbn=978-1-58465-897-9 }}</ref> From the years 1990–2001, 852 incidents of aircraft hazard due to starlings and [[Icteridae|New World blackbirds]] were reported with 39 strikes causing major damage that cost a total of $1,607,317.<ref name="bad ref"/>

Starlings' droppings can contain the fungus ''[[Histoplasma#Histoplasma capsulatum|Histoplasma capsulatum]]'', the cause of [[histoplasmosis]] in humans. At roosting sites this fungus can thrive in accumulated droppings.<ref name="feare183" /> There are a number of other [[infectious disease]]s that can potentially be transmitted by common starlings to humans,<ref name="colostate" /> although the potential for the birds to spread infections may have been exaggerated.<ref name="wdfw.wa.gov" /> The spread of disease to livestock is also a concern, possibly more important than starling's effects on food consumption or transmission of disease to humans. The spreading of [[Histoplasmosis]] reported in a Nebraska manufacturing facility saw a loss of 10,000 pigs from the spread of the disease which was valued at $1{{nbsp}}million loss in 2014.<ref name="bad ref"/>