Songbirds · Netherlands
Common Starling
Spreeuw · Sturnus vulgaris
Through my lens
Speckled, noisy and very sociable
From a distance a Starling just looks black. In good light the feathers shine purple and green, and in winter they are covered in small white spots. It is also a good mimic, mixing whistles, clicks and other birds' calls into its song.
Starlings feed on lawns and meadows, probing the soil for grubs, and they stay in company all year.
In autumn and winter they gather at dusk before going to roost, often in reed beds. That is when the murmurations happen, thousands of birds turning together as one cloud. The most likely explanation is safety in numbers against hunters like the Peregrine and the Sparrowhawk.
Selected work
Featured photographs
