Starling, Nest or Nests

Nest. Common European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris). Perhaps more than one. Collected Hartford, Vermont, 2003, c.e.

This nest of the Common European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) was removed from the Hartford Woolen Mill Warehouse building during its renovation to artist studio and living spaces in the late 1990’s. Grasses, sedges and other organic material has been combined with domestic refuse in this telling example of the starlings’ compatibility to urban settings. Artists (Homo sapiens) are not the only invasive specie to utilize unused, formerly industrial structures in adaptive ways. There was also a family of grey squirrels living (2003, c.e.) in the partitions of this building.

Background of the Species

European Starlings were imported to the United States by an organization whose mission was the introduction of all birds mentioned in Shakespeare into the United States. (Hotspur: I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak—Henry IV, Part 1) For this purpose, 60 to 100 breeding pairs were freed in New York’s Central Park. Thus introduced, this alien species is now one of America’s commonest birds (see also: F. japonica). The introduction of both starlings and knotweed (q.v.) through New York City’s Central Park is an interesting geographic conjunction, the significance of which is currently being investigated by Museum staff.

—Specimen gift of Matt P. Bucy