Starling on the Bird Feeder

Starling ~ Sturnus vulgaris

There is a small flock of around 9 starlings that regularly use Newington Green to feed on the grass, hunting for earthworms and leather jackets. For the last couple of years at least, starlings have also nested in holes that are naturally found in the large plane trees on the Green.

This starling is also making use of the bird feeder that the Newington Green Action Group has put up on the Green to supplement the range of foods available to birds, as part of the WING project. The feeder hangs from one of the holly trees which offer the birds some cover from flying predators and the trees also give birds some sense of security as buses and other heavy traffic passes by, just a few feet away from the feeders. As domestic cats are one of the main starling predators, Newington Green with its surrounding roads, does also offer some protection to birds from the dozens of cats that live locally.

Red List

Starlings are on the Red List for conservation concern. The British Trust for Ornithology have reported that starling numbers in the UK have fallen by an alarming 66% in just 30 years.  It is therefore good to see that some starlings can use the Green as a viable habitat to live in.

The bird feeder and the nearby feeding station on Newington Green have so far been used by robins, blue tits, great tits, starlings, goldfinches and, unfortunately, feral pigeons.

The collective nouns for starlings are a 'chatter of starlings' and a 'murmuration of starlings' and anyone who has listened to these lovely little speckled birds burbling away in the trees, will agree that the terms are very descriptive of starlings.

March 2010