On back the black feathers, with iridescence of green and
bronze, are tipped with brown, as are some of the tail and wing
feathers. In autumn and early winter feathers of sides of head,
breast, flanks and underparts are tipped with white, giving a
gray, mottled appearance. During the winter most of the white
tips on breast and underparts wear off. Until the first moult
in late summer the young birds are a dark olive-brown in color,
with white or whitish throat. These differences in plumage at
different seasons and different ages make starlings hard to
identify. Red-winged blackbirds and grackles are often mistaken
for them. From early spring till mid-June, starling's rather
long, sharp bill is yellow. Later in summer it darkens. No
other black bird of ours has this yellow bill at any season.
Female -- Similar in appearance.
Range -- Massachusetts to Maryland. Not common beyond 100 miles
inland. (Native of northern Europe and Asia.)
Migrations -- Permanent resident, but flocks show some tendency
to drift southward in winter.
This newcomer to our shores is by no means so black as he has been painted.
Like many other European immigrants he landed at or near Castle Garden, New
York City, and his descendants have not cared to wander very far from this
vicinity, preferring regions with a pretty numerous human population.
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