Editing Common starling (section)

=== Breeding ===
[[File:Starling eggs.jpeg|right|thumb|Five eggs in a nest]]Breeding takes place during the spring and summer. Following copulation, the female lays eggs on a daily basis over a period of several days. If an egg is lost during this time, she will lay another to replace it. There are normally four or five eggs that are [[ovoid]] in shape and pale blue or occasionally white, and they commonly have a glossy appearance.<ref name=H1923/> The colour of the eggs seems to have evolved through the relatively good visibility of blue at low light levels.<ref name= weg>{{cite journal| last= Węgrzyn | first= E |author2=Leniowski, K|author3=Rykowska, I|author4=Wasiak, W | year=2011 | title= Is UV and blue-green egg colouration a signal in cavity-nesting birds? | journal= Ethology Ecology and Evolution | volume=23 | pages= 121–131 | doi = 10.1080/03949370.2011.554882| issue= 2 | bibcode= 2011EtEcE..23..121W | s2cid= 85353700 }}</ref> The egg size is {{convert|26.5|–|34.5|mm|in|abbr=on}} in length and {{convert|20.0|–|22.5|mm|in|abbr=on}} in maximum diameter.<ref name=feare183/>[[File:Sturnus vulgaris MWNH 2328.JPG|thumb|Eggs, Collection [[Museum Wiesbaden]], Germany|left]][[Avian incubation|Incubation]] lasts thirteen days, although the last egg laid may take 24&nbsp;hours longer than the first to hatch. Both parents share the responsibility of brooding the eggs, but the female spends more time incubating them than does the male, and is the only parent to do so at night when the male returns to the communal roost. A pair can raise up to three broods per year, frequently reusing and relining the same nest,<ref name="H1923"/> although two broods is typical,<ref name =feare183/> or just one north of 48°N.<ref name=linz/>

The young are born blind and naked. They develop light fluffy down within seven days of hatching and can see within nine days.<ref name="H1923"/> As with other passerines, the nest is kept clean and the chicks' [[fecal sac|faecal sacs]] are removed by the adults.<ref name= wright>{{cite journal| last= Wright | first= Jonathan |author2=Cuthill, Innes | year= 1989| title= Manipulation of sex differences in parental care | journal= Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology| volume= 25 | issue = 3 | pages= 171–181 | doi =10.1007/BF00302916| bibcode= 1989BEcoS..25..171W | s2cid= 10779154 }}</ref> Once the chicks are able to regulate their body temperature, about six days after hatching,<ref name=oulu>Marjoniemi (2001) p. 19.</ref> the adults largely cease removing droppings from the nest. Prior to that, the fouling would wet both the chicks' plumage and the nest material, thereby reducing their effectiveness as insulation and increasing the risk of chilling the hatchlings.<ref name= burton>Burton (1985) p. 187.</ref> [[Nestlings]] remain in the nest for three weeks, where they are fed continuously by both parents. [[Fledgling (birds)|Fledgling]]s continue to be fed by their parents for another one or two weeks. Within two months, most juveniles will have moulted and gained their first basic plumage. They acquire their adult plumage the following year.<ref name="H1923"/>[[File:Starling chicks Clarinbridge.jpg|thumb|alt=Chicks waiting to be fed|Chicks waiting to be fed at the entrance of their nest made in a gap in a wall in [[Galway]], Ireland]]

[[Intraspecific hybrid|Intraspecific]] [[brood parasites]] are common in common starling nests. Female "floaters" (unpaired females during the breeding season) present in colonies often lay eggs in another pair's nest.<ref name=Sandell>{{cite journal | last1= Sandell| first1= M I| last2=Diemer| first2= Michael | year=1999 | title=Intraspecific brood parasitism: a strategy for floating females in the European starling | journal= Animal Behaviour | volume= 57 | issue = 1 | pages= 197–202 | pmid = 10053087 | doi=10.1006/anbe.1998.0936 | s2cid= 25788559| doi-access= free }}</ref> Fledglings have also been reported to invade their own or neighbouring nests and evict a new brood.<ref name=H1923/> Common starling nests have a 48% to 79% rate of successful fledging, although only 20% of nestlings survive to breeding age; the adult survival rate is closer to 60%. The average life span is about 2–3 years,<ref name= linz/> with a longevity record of 22 years 11 months.<ref name = euring>{{cite web | title= European Longevity Records | url= http://www.euring.org/data_and_codes/longevity-voous.htm| publisher= Euring| access-date =2013-01-20 }}</ref>