Alt Zeschdorf (MOL Brandenburg)   Singstare🐦

Photo: Gemiwala · CC BY-SA 4.0

SpeciesPasseriformesSturnidae
Birds

🐦Common Starling

Sturnus vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758

The common starling, 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.

Text: Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Videos
49
Photos
6
Measurements
12
vs you
≈ 1/800th of your weight
Conservation status
LCLeast concern

IUCN Red List assessment, 2019.

Population trendDecreasing
Key measurements
Body mass
0.08 kg
Body length
not recorded
Shoulder height
not recorded
Top speed
not recorded
Bite force
not recorded
Maximum lifespan
23 years
All measurements ↓
Facts and figures

Everything we know about the Common Starling

Typical adult figures. Where a value is an estimate rather than a measurement, it says so.

Body mass
0.08 kg
AVONET
Other figures ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Figures vary

  • 0.07 kgAnAgeAnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR)data quality: acceptable
Tail length
0.07 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Wing length
0.13 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Beak length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Tarsus length
0.03 m
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Maximum lifespan
23 years
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Gestation
12 days
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Litter size
about 5
AnAge
Details ↓

data quality: acceptable

Source: AnAge · AnAge build 15, 2023-07-03 (HAGR) · CC BY 3.0

Trophic level
Omnivore
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Habitat
Human Modified
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Lifestyle
Insessorial
AVONET
Details ↓

Source: AVONET · v1.1 (Tobias et al. 2022) · CC BY 4.0

Volume l
0.1 Laverage
Details ↓

Body mass at ~1.0 kg/L, the density of vertebrate tissue.

average = a mean across sexes or species in a group.

Not recorded for Common Starling yet: body length, shoulder height, top speed, bite force.

Where it sits

Family tree

  1. kingdomAnimalia
  2. ›phylumChordata
  3. ›classAves
  4. ›orderPasseriformes
  5. ›familySturnidae
  6. ›genusSturnus
  7. ›speciesSturnus vulgaris
Full lineage
  1. superclassTetrapoda
  2. orderSauria
  3. classBirds · Aves
  4. orderPerching birds · Passeriformes
All 10 branches ↓
  1. kingdomMetazoa
  2. phylumChordata
  3. subphylumCraniata
  4. subphylumVertebrata
  5. superclassGnathostomata
  6. superclassSarcopterygii
  7. superclassTetrapoda
  8. orderSauria
  9. classBirds · Aves
  10. orderPerching birds · Passeriformes
More

More about the Common Starling

Closest relative on this site
🐦‍⬛ Common Blackbird — last shared an ancestor ≈ 31 million years ago.
In other languages
spreeuw (nl), Sturnus vulgaris (es), Étourneau sansonnet (fr), 紫翅椋鸟 (zh), szpak zwyczajny (pl), seregély (hu) … and 26 more languages

Animals caught on camera

Real footage of the animals on this site — hunting, fighting, and getting on with it.

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