European Starling
Sturnus vulgaris
- KingdomAnimalia (Animals)
- PhylumChordata (Cordats)
- ClassAves (Aus)
- OrderPasseriformes
- FamilySturnidae (Starlings)
- GenusSturnus (European and Spotless Starlings)
- SpeciesSturnus vulgaris (European Starling)
The common starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, and as the European starling in North America, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 in) long and has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, which is speckled with white at some times of the year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browner plumage than the adults. Its gift for mimicry has been noted in literature including the Mabinogion and the works of Pliny the Elder and William Shakespeare. The common starling has about 12 subspecies breeding in open habitats across its native range in temperate Europe and across the Palearctic to western Mongolia, and it has been introduced as an invasive species to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Argentina, South Africa and Fiji. This bird is resident in western and southern Europe and southwestern Asia, while northeastern populations migrate south and west in the winter within the breeding range and also further south to Iberia and North Africa. Wikipedia →
Closest Relatives at Lamington National Park
Lewin's Honeyeater
Meliphaga lewinii
Eastern Whipbird
Psophodes olivaceus
Eastern Yellow Robin
Eopsaltria australis
White-browed Scrubwren
Sericornis frontalis
Satin Bowerbird
Ptilonorhynchus violaceus
Pied Currawong
Strepera graculina
Yellow-Throated Scrubwren
Sericornis citreogularis
Australian Logrunner
Orthonyx temminckii
Green Catbird
Ailuroedus crassirostris
Gray Shrikethrush
Colluricincla harmonica
Welcome Swallow
Hirundo neoxena
Golden Whistler
Pachycephala pectoralis
📅 Monthly Probability
Fewer than 5 records of European Starling at Lamington National Park — not enough to chart months honestly.
☀️ When They're Spotted
Most active during daytime hours (6am–6pm) · across all parks (global)
Global Distribution
Where this species is recorded worldwide. Restricted to human observations from 2019 onwards — the same kind of record and the same period the probabilities on this page are built from, so collar-tracking studies, camera-trap arrays and museum specimens are excluded. Around Santa Rosa that removes 5,924 GPS fixes from a handful of tagged jaguars.
where this species is recorded (GBIF density — it tracks where observers go, not how likely a sighting is) · parks where it occurs — tap a pin for the sighting probability there