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BIRD COLUMN FOR By Benjamin P. Burtt We
will start this column with a question from a reader about the flocking of
starlings and grackles. Then we will cover some of the reasons people hate
starlings and then some of the useful, interesting and beneficial things
about this bird. Question : Dear Ben: I
saw a large flock of grackles) heading directly east on August 10. Were they
starting their fall migration? I
also saw large flocks of starlings in August. Does that early migration mean
that we will have a cold winter? --B.R. by email.
CAPTION: Starlings travel about in flocks and
hundreds may show up in our backyard as these did at David Ferros home in Dear
B.R.: As for the flocks of grackles moving in a given direction in early
August, that was not migration. Grackles never start their migration until
late October. Each
species migrates at the same time every year to within a week. The timing is
governed by their hormones which in turn are stimulated by the shortening of
the daylight hours in the fall. The date they start to migrate is not due to
a lack of food, nor to some sense that the winter will be severe. It depends
on the sun and that does not change. It
is quite normal for starlings and grackles to gather into flocks after the
nesting season is over. Each species gathers into its own flock to forage for
food and especially to roost together with their own kind at night. Usually
they choose a certain patch of woods. Sometimes starlings roost on buildings.
In the 1960s, thousands made a terrible mess each night in down town Both
species start towards their roost at a time that allows them to reach the
spot before dark. In
your case, the grackle roost was located east of your home and perhaps 10
miles away. People who live east of that roost would observe the birds flying
west in the late afternoon. Those living south of the roost would see
grackles flying north. The History of the starling in the United States As
for the starling, we have them all through the year. They do migrate in a
south westerly direction, but others move in from the north so we do not
notice any change. Among
certain birds, this habit of roosting or traveling about in flocks is common.
In a flock there are more eyes to watch for danger or to find food. Starlings
are birds that are native to This
bird was brought here for what might be called cultural reasons. In March
1890, 60 starlings were released in They
appeared in Problems with starlings Wherever
they went, they took over the nesting holes that normally would be used by
such birds as flickers, great crested flycatchers and bluebirds. Being very
aggressive, starlings drove away the other species. The native birds we
prefer were not able to nest successfully. Most
people look on them as a nuisance for when they roost together in large
numbers, their droppings contaminate the surroundings. Two redeeming features of starlings First,
they are great eaters of insects and grubs. Secondly and less known is their
ability to sing and imitate the songs of other birds and even human speech. Generally,
when we observe a group of starlings sitting in a tree, all we hear are
squeaks, chatters, creaking rattles, chirps and wheezy notes, none of which
are pleasant to the ear. Now
and then, we may hear some long and drawn-out cheerful whistles which are
almost human-like and easily imitated. Young starlings have harsh, rasping,
insistent calls as they request the adults to bring them food. The
birds mimicking ability was studied for 10 years by Dr. Meredith West, and
Dr. Andrew King at They
can also imitate human sounds, including words and whistled versions of
songs. According
to Dr. West, not only do starlings mimic sounds, but they can also string
together various sounds into what she describes as "song
soliloquies", that is as if it was singing to itself. Some of these
included human speech interwoven among others sounds. The
birds can also re-create strings of connected events. They have, for example,
imitated an alarm clock ringing, followed by imitations of clinking dishes
and of people talking. Another one mimicked the barking of a dog, followed by
the sound of a door opening and closing, followed by a voice saying,
"Hello!" Dr.
West believes that starlings give back sounds from their environment, perhaps
as a means of testing or probing the reactions of people or other creatures
around them. Sometimes
their utterances are comical. She cited one case in which a starling
exclaimed, "I have a question," as its claws were being clipped.
Another got tangled in a Venetian blind cord and started shrieking,
"basic research" over and over. Yet
another would utter a sniffling sound and say "hi." This apparently
was the mannerism of the person who took care of the bird and had an allergy
which caused them to sniff frequently. Dr.
West said that all of the starlings she and Dr. King have studied show an
interest in music or whistling. She said they often produce rambling whistled
tunes made up of songs that have previously been whistled or sung to them,
"intermingled with whistles of unknown origin and other sounds." One
starling would start whistling "rock a bye baby," then switch to
"The William Tell Overture? and go back and forth between the two. People
in the 18th century knew about the singing and mimicking ability
of starlings. They trained them as musical birds and kept them as pets. Mozart’s Pet starling The
Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart had an interesting experience with
a pet starling. He kept a diary of the money he spent, and on The
17 notes appear in the final movement of his Piano Concerto in G Major. This
startled and worried Mozart, because he had just sent a copy of his work to
his father as insurance against someone stealing it and claiming it for their
own. In those days, when there where no copyright laws, others would try to
steal the works of famous composers. A
day after he sent the concerto to his father, he walked into a pet store and
heard a starling whistling notes from his new concertos final movement! So he
did what any new creator would do, - he bought the bird. Drs.
West and King suggest that Mozart had visited that pet shop and other pet
shops earlier. Being the inveterate whistler that he was, he probably gave
the notes away long before the concerto was played publicly. Early
in this century, North American Ornithologists wrote about the mimicking
ability of starlings as the bird began to populate this country. The bird so
often imitated the notes of the wood pewee that some But
it was later learned that in Francis
H. Allen, writing early in the about 1910, suggested that the starlings
learned many of their imitations from other starlings. He observed trends in
their singing. For several years, they imitated pewees and then they shifted
to cowbirds. More
than 50 species of birds have been listed as imitated by the starling. Not
all starlings are imitators, and some never seem to indulge in the habit. When
you next encounter a flock of starlings, stop to listen. I doubt if you will
hear the Piano Concerto in G Major, but you may hear some interesting
imitations. Coming December 28: The birds that were visiting feeders in early
December and the results of the December Feeder Survey. To get in touch with Benjamin P. BurttVia Mail: Write to B.Burtt, Stars Magazine, Via E-mail: Send
to features@syracuse.com. Be sure to put
“For B.Burtt” in the subject line. |
