Wrapped Up - European Starling

by Angeles M Pomata

Title

Wrapped Up - European Starling

Artist

Angeles M Pomata

Medium

Painting - Oil On Paper

Description

This painting is based on the original photograph 'Snow Flurries And A European Starling', by Cindy Treger, whose express consent has been requested to use it as a reference.

The original photo can be found here: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/snow-flurries-and-a-european-starling-cindy-treger.html

The European Starling, common starling in Europe or simply starling in the British Islands, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. Plump and mostly dark, it has a short tail, triangular wings, and a long pointed beak. The plumage is iridescent black, glossed purple or green, and spangled with white, especially in winter.

It is a highly gregarious species, forming big noisy flocks (murmurations) probably to avoid attacks from birds of prey.

They feed on the ground on lawns, fields, sidewalks, and parking lots, racing across fields, beaking down and probing the grass or ground for food. That's why it is often regarded as a pest, although they themselves can be a solution for pests, some of which are part of their diet, which includes a variety of invertebrates, fruits, grains, seeds, and even garbage.

One curious thing about them is the reason why they were introduced in America in the late 1800s: it was part of an attempt to bring animals that were mentioned in Shakespeare's work to America. It was a huge success. Today, European Starlings range from Alaska to Florida and northern Mexico, and their population is estimated at over 200 million birds.

It is a songbird, its song being a rather quiet series of rattles and whistled notes, sometimes using mimicry of other bird species. Their flight call is a purring "prurrp." European Starlings are very noisy birds, especially in large groups, and can become quite aggressive when it comes to dealing with other smaller birds and a feeder.

Uploaded

February 9th, 2019

Colors

Embed

Share

Tags