An official website of the United States government.

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites always use a .gov or .mil domain. Before sharing sensitive information online, make sure you’re on a .gov or .mil site by inspecting your browser’s address (or “location”) bar.

This site is also protected by an SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) certificate that’s been signed by the U.S. government. The https:// means all transmitted data is encrypted — in other words, any information or browsing history that you provide is transmitted securely.

National Invasive Species Information Center
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Home / Terrestrial Invasives / Terrestrial Vertebrates / European Starling

European Starling

View all resources
European Starling
European Starling, Adult - Lee Karney USDA, Agricultural Research Service.
Scientific Name: 
Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758 (ITIS)
Common Name: 
European starling, common starling, English starling
Native To: 
Eurasia (Fofonoff et al. 2003)
Date of U.S. Introduction: 
1890 (Fofonoff et al. 2003)
Means of Introduction: 
Introduced as part of a plan to introduce to the U.S. all birds mentioned in the works of Shakespeare (Fofonoff et al. 2003)
Impact: 
Competes with native species; destroys crops (Fofonoff et al. 2003)

Spotlights

Starling Success Traced to Rapid Adaptation (Feb 9, 2021)

Cornell University. Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

Love them or hate them, there's no doubt the European Starling is a wildly successful bird. A new study from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology examines this non-native species from the inside out. What exactly happened at the genetic level as the starling population exploded from just 80 birds released in New York City's Central Park in 1890, peaking at an estimated 200 million breeding adults spread all across North America? The study appears in the journal Molecular Ecology.

Images

Google Images - European Starling
Google.
Invasive.org - European Starling
University of Georgia. Center for Invasive Species and Ecosystem Health.

Selected Resources

The section below contains highly relevant resources for this species, organized by source. Or, to display all related content view all resources for European Starling.

Partnership
Global Invasive Species Database - Sturnus vulgaris (bird)
IUCN. Species Survival Commission. Invasive Species Specialist Group.
Invasive Species Compendium - Sturnus vulgaris
CAB International.
Prevention and Control of Wildlife Damage: European Starlings and Their Control (PDF | 759 KB)
Internet Center for Wildlife Damage Management.
See also: Birds for more fact sheets
StarlingScan

Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (Australia). FeralScan.

Texas Invasives Database - Sturnus vulgaris
TexasInvasives.org.
The Quiet Invasion: A Guide to Invasive Species of the Galveston Bay Area - European Starling

Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, Galveston Bay Estuary Program; Houston Advanced Research Center (HARC).

Federal Government
Indian River Lagoon Species Inventory - Sturnus vulgaris
Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Marine Station at Fort Pierce.
National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System (NEMESIS): Chesapeake Bay Introduced Species Database - Sturnus vulgaris
Smithsonian Institution. Smithsonian Environmental Research Center. Marine Invasions Research Lab.
Wildlife Damage Management - Starlings and Blackbirds

USDA. Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service.

International Government
PestSmart Connect - Pest Birds

Centre for Invasive Species Solutions (Australia).

State and Local Government
Field Guide: Invasive - European Starling
Missouri Department of Conservation.
Invasive Terrestrial Animals: European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris)
Minnesota Department of Natural Resources.
Living with Wildlife: Starlings
Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife.
Tennessee's Birds: European Starling
Tennessee Wildlife Resources Agency.
Academic
Starling Management in Agriculture (Aug 1998) (PDF | 692 KB)
University of Nebraska - Lincoln. Cooperative Extension.
Note: Economics of Damage and Control
All About Birds - European Starling
Cornell Laboratory of Ornithology.
Note: Nesting Behavior
Animal Diversity Web - Sturnus vulgaris
University of Michigan. Museum of Zoology.
Introduced Species Summary Project - European Starling
Columbia University. Center for Environmental Research and Conservation.
Texas Breeding Bird Atlas - European Starling
Texas A&M University. AgriLife Extension Service.

Citations

  • Fofonoff, P.W., G.M. Ruiz, B. Steves, A.H. Hines, and J.T. Carlton. 2003. Sturnus vulgaris. National Exotic Marine and Estuarine Species Information System: Chesapeake Bay Introduced Species Database. [Accessed Sep 16, 2014].
  • Integrated Taxonomic Information System. Sturnus vulgaris. [Accessed Sep 10, 2014].