Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, known as murmuration.

All members of the family Sturnidae, commonly called sturnids, are known collectively as starlings. The Sturnidae are named for the genus Sturnus, which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus. The family contains 128 species which are divided into 36 genera. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called mynas, and many African species are known as glossy starlings because of their iridescent plumage. Starlings are native to Europe, Asia, and Africa, as well as northern Australia and the islands of the tropical Pacific. Several European and Asian species have been introduced to these areas, as well as North America, Hawaii, and New Zealand, where they generally compete for habitats with native birds and are considered to be invasive species. The starling species familiar to most people in Europe and North America is the common starling, and throughout much of Asia and the Pacific.

Having strong feet, their flight is strong and direct, and they are very gregarious. Their preferred habitat is fairly open country, they eat insects and fruit, and most species nest in holes and lay blue or white eggs. Several species live around human habitation and are effectively omnivores. Many species search for prey such as grubs by "open-bill probing", that is, forcefully opening the bill after inserting it into a crevice, thus expanding the hole and exposing the prey; this behaviour is referred to as zirkeln (pronounced ), after the German word Zirkel for a pair of compasses.

Starlings have diverse and complex vocalizations and have been known to embed sounds from their surroundings into their own calls, including car alarms and human speech patterns. The birds can recognize particular individuals by their calls and have been the subject of research into the evolution of human language.

Description

thumb|The [[common starling (Sturnus vulgaris) has iridescent plumage.]]

Starlings are medium-sized passerines. The shortest-bodied species is Kenrick's starling (Poeoptera kenricki), at , but the lightest-weight species is Abbott's starling (Poeoptera femoralis), which is . The largest starling, going on standard measurements and perhaps weight, is the Nias hill myna (Gracula robusta). This species can measure up to , and in domestication they can weigh up to . Rivaling the prior species in bulk if not dimensions, the mynas of the genus Mino are also large, especially the yellow-faced (M. dumontii) and long-tailed mynas (M. kreffti). The longest species in the family is the white-necked myna (Streptocitta albicollis), which can measure up to , although around 60% in this magpie-like species is comprised by its very long tail.

Less sexual dimorphism is seen in plumage, but with only 25 species showing such differences between the two sexes. The plumage of the starling is often brightly coloured due to iridescence; this colour is derived from the structure of the feathers, not from any pigment. Some species of Asian starling have crests or erectile feathers on the crest. Other ornamentation includes elongated tail feathers and brightly coloured bare areas on the face. These colours can be derived from pigments, or as in the Bali myna, structural colour, caused by light scattering off parallel collagen fibers. The irises of many species are red and yellow, although those of younger birds are much darker.). Also, a species of this genus is the only starling found in northern Australia. A persistent story alleges that Eugene Schieffelin, chairman of the American Acclimatization Society, decided all birds mentioned by William Shakespeare should be in North America, leading to the introduction of the starling to the U.S.; however, this claim is more fiction than fact. — a simultaneously synchronized and seemingly random flock movement characterized by sudden, erratic direction changes without an observable leader.

Initial study by ornithologist Edmund Selous (1857-1934) sought to explain the murmuration of starlings through the idea of thought-transference. Thus the flock moves as each individual bird synchronizes with its nearest group.

They noted that "information moves across the flock very quickly and with nearly no degradation,"

Starling murmurations can last from a few seconds up to 45 minutes; can involve few birds or up to tens of thousands; may include other species of starlings or species from other families; and sometimes form abstract dramatic shapes, patterns or subtle gradations. In Ireland, starlings’ numbers are boosted during winter, as migrating flocks arrive from breeding grounds around Western Europe and Scandinavia.

Diet and feeding

thumb|[[Micronesian starlings have been observed feeding on the eggs of seabirds.]]

left|thumb|Two starlings and an American robin (right) on grape arbor: The American robin is plucking a grape. Robins and starlings cause serious damage to ripening grapes in California and elsewhere.

The diets of the starlings are usually dominated by fruits and insects. Many species are important dispersers of seeds, in Asia and Africa, for example, white sandalwood and Indian banyan. In addition to trees, they are also important dispersers of parasitic mistletoes. In South Africa, the red-winged starling is an important disperser of the introduced Acacia cyclops. Starlings have been observed feeding on fermenting over-ripe fruit, which led to the speculation that they might become intoxicated by the alcohol. In addition to consuming fruits, many starlings also consume nectar. The extent to which starlings are important pollinators is unknown, but at least some are, such as the slender-billed starling of alpine East Africa, which pollinates giant lobelias.

The starlings belong to the superfamily Muscicapoidea, together with thrushes, flycatchers and chats, as well as dippers, which are quite distant relatives, and Mimidae (thrashers and mockingbirds). The latter are apparently the Sturnidae's closest living relatives, replace them in the Americas, and have a rather similar but more solitary lifestyle. They are morphologically quite similar too—a partly albinistic specimen of a mimid, mislabelled as to suggest an Old World origin, was for many decades believed to represent an extinct starling (see Rodrigues starling for details).

thumb|[[European starling eggs]]

thumb|upright|Adult feeding young

The oxpeckers are sometimes placed here as a subfamily, but the weight of evidence has shifted towards granting them full family status as a more basal member of the Sturnidae-Mimidae group, derived from an early expansion into Africa.

Usually, the starlings are considered a family, as is done here. Sibley & Monroe included the mimids in the family and demoted the starlings to tribe rank, as Sturnini. This treatment was used by Zuccon et al. However, the grouping of Sibley & Monroe is overly coarse due to methodological drawbacks of their DNA-DNA hybridization technique and most of their proposed revisions of taxonomic rank have not been accepted (see for example Ciconiiformes). The all-inclusive Sturnidae grouping conveys little information about biogeography, and obscures the evolutionary distinctness of the three lineages. Establishing a valid name for the clade consisting of Sibley/Monroe's "pan-Sturnidae" would nonetheless be desirable to contrast them with the other major lineages of Muscicapoidea.

Starlings probably originated in the general area of East Asia, perhaps towards the southwestern Pacific, as inferred by the number of plesiomorphic lineages to occur there. Expansion into Africa appears to have occurred later, as most derived forms are found there. An alternative scenario would be African origin for the entire "sturnoid" group,

As the fossil record is limited to quite Recent<!-- capitalization is correct—synonym for "Quaternary" --> forms, the proposed Early Miocene (about 25–20 Mya) divergence dates for the "sturnoids" lineages must be considered extremely tentative. Given the overall evidence for the origin of most Passeri families in the first half of the Miocene, it appears to be not too far off the mark, however. This taxonomy is also based on the order of the IOC.

Clades

{| class="wikitable"

|+Oriental-Australasian clade

!Genus

!Species

!Image

|-

|Acridotheres

|

  • Great myna (A. grandis)
  • Crested myna (A. cristatellus)
  • Javan myna (A. javanicus)
  • Pale-bellied myna, (A. cinereus)
  • Jungle myna (A. fuscus)
  • Collared myna (A. albocinctus)
  • Bank myna (A. ginginianus)
  • Common myna (A. tristis)
  • Black-winged myna (A. melanopterus)
  • Burmese myna (A. burmannicus)
  • Vinous-breasted myna (A. leucocephalus)

|frameless

Common myna (A. tristis)

|-

|Agropsar

|

  • Daurian starling (A. sturninus)
  • Chestnut-cheeked starling (A. philippinensis)

|frameless

Daurian starling

(A. sturninus)

|-

|Ampeliceps

|

  • Golden-crested myna (A. coronatus)

|frameless

Golden-crested myna

(A. coronatus)

|-

|Aplonis

|22 extant,

3 recently extinct

|frameless

Metallic starling

(A. metallica)

|-

|Basilornis

|

  • Sulawesi myna (B. celebensis)
  • Helmeted myna (B. galeatus)
  • Long-crested myna (B. corythaix)

|frameless

Sulawesi myna

(B. celebensis)

|-

|Enodes

|

  • Fiery-browed myna (E. erythrophris)

|frameless

Fiery-browed myna

(E. erythrophris)

|-

|Goodfellowia

|

  • Apo myna (G. miranda)

|frameless

Apo myna

(G. miranda)

|-

|Gracula

|

  • Sri lanka hill myna (G. ptilogenys)
  • Common hill myna (G. religiosa)
  • Southern hill myna (G. indica)
  • Tenggara hill myna (G. venerata)

|frameless

Southern hill myna

(G. indica)

|-

|Gracupica

|

  • Black-collared starling (G. nigricollis)
  • Indian pied myna (G. contra)
  • Siamese pied myna (G. floweri)
  • Javan pied myna (G. jalla)

|frameless

Indian pied myna

(G. contra)

|-

|Leucopsar

|

  • Bali myna (L. rothschildi)

|frameless

Bali myna

(L. rothschildi)

|-

|Mino

|

  • Yellow-faced myna (M. dumontii)
  • Golden myna (M. anais)
  • Long-tailed myna (M. kreffti)

|frameless

Yellow-faced myna

(M. dumontii)

|-

|Sarcops

|

  • Coleto (S. calvus)

|frameless

Coleto

(S. calvus)

|-

|Scissirostrum

|

  • Grosbeak starling (S. dubium)

|frameless

Grosbeak starling

(S. dubium)

|-

|Spodiopsar

|

  • Red-billed starling (S. sericeus)
  • White-cheeked starling (S. cineraceus)

|frameless

White-cheeked starling

(S. cineraceus)

|-

|Streptocitta

|

  • White-necked myna (S. albicollis)
  • Bare-eyed myna (S. albertinae)

|frameless

White-necked myna

(S. albicollis)

|-

|Sturnia

|

  • White-shouldered starling (S. sinensis)
  • Chestnut-tailed starling (S. malabarica)
  • White-headed starling (S. erythropygia)
  • Malabar starling (S. blythii)
  • Brahminy starling (S. pagodarum)

|frameless

Brahminy starling

(S. pagodarum)

|-

|Sturnornis

|

  • White-faced starling (S. albofrontatus)

|frameless

White-faced starling

(S. albofrontatus)

|-

|†Fregilupus

|

  • Hoopoe starling (†F. varius)

|frameless

Hoopoe starling

(†F. varius)

|-

|†Necropsar

|

  • Rodrigues starling (†N. rodericanus)

|frameless

Rodrigues starling

(†N. rodericanus)

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+Afrotropical-Palearctic clade

!Genus

!Species

!Image

|-

|Arizelopsar

|

  • Abbott's starling (A. femoralis)

|frameless

Abbott's starling

(A. femoralis)

|-

|Cinnyricinclus

|

  • Violet-backed starling (C. leucogaster)

|frameless

Violet-backed starling

(C. leucogaster)

|-

|Creatophora

|

  • Wattled starling (C. cinerea)

|frameless

Wattled starling

(C. cinerea)

|-

|Grafisia

|

  • White-collared starling (G. torquata)

|frameless

White-collared starling

(G. torquata)

|-

|Hartlaubius

|

  • Madagascar starling (H. auratus)

|frameless

Madagascar starling

(H. auratus)

|-

|Hylopsar

|

  • Purple-headed starling (H. purpureiceps)
  • Copper-tailed starling (H. cupreocauda)

|frameless

Purple-headed starling

(H. purpureiceps)

|-

|Lamprotornis

|

  • Cape starling L. nitens)
  • Greater blue-eared starling (L. chalybaeus)
  • Lesser blue-eared starling (L. chloropterus)
  • Miombo blue-eared starling (L. elisabeth)
  • Bronze-tailed starling (L. chalcurus)
  • Splendid starling (L. splendidus)
  • Principe starling (L. ornatus)
  • Emerald starling (L. iris)
  • Purple starling (L. purpureus)
  • Rüppell's starling (L. purpuroptera)
  • Long-tailed glossy starling (L. caudatus)
  • Golden-breasted starling (L. regius)
  • Meves's starling (L. mevesii)
  • Burchell's starling (L. australis)
  • Sharp-tailed starling (L. acuticaudus)
  • Superb starling (L. superbus)
  • Hildebrandt's starling (L. hildebrandti)
  • Shelley's starling (L. shelleyi)
  • Chestnut-bellied starling (L. pulcher)
  • Ashy starling (L. unicolor)
  • Fischer's starling (L. fischeri)
  • Pied starling (L. bicolor)
  • White-crowned starling (L. albicapillus)

|frameless

Greater blue-eared starling

(L. chalybaeus)

|-

|Neocichla

|

  • Babbling starling (N. gutturalis)

|frameless

Babbling starling

(N. gutturalis)

|-

|Notopholia

|

  • Black-bellied starling (N. corusca)

|frameless

Black-bellied starling

(N. corusca)

|-

|Onychognathus

|

  • Red-winged starling (O. morio)
  • Slender-billed starling (O. tenuirostris)
  • Chestnut-winged starling (O. fulgidus)
  • Waller's starling (O. walleri)
  • Somali starling (O. blythii)
  • Socotra starling (O. frater)
  • Tristram's starling (O. tristramii)
  • Pale-winged starling (O. nabouroup)
  • Bristle-crowned starling (O. salvadorii)
  • White-billed starling (O. albirostris)
  • Neumann's starling (O. neumanni)

|frameless

Red-winged starling

(O. morio)

|-

|Pastor

|

  • Rosy starling (P. roseus)

|frameless

Rosy starling

(P. roseus)

|-

|Pholia

|

  • Sharpe's starling (P. sharpii)

|frameless

Sharpe's starling

(P. sharpii)

|-

|Poeoptera

|

  • Kenrick's starling (P. kenricki)
  • Narrow-tailed starling (P. lugubris)
  • Stuhlmann's starling (P. stuhlmanni)

|frameless

Stuhlmann's starling

(P. stuhlmanni)

|-

|Saroglossa

|

  • Spot-winged starling (S. spilopterus)

|frameless

Spot-winged starling

(S. spilopterus)

|-

|Speculipastor

|

  • Magpie starling (S. bicolor)

|frameless

Magpie starling

(S. bicolor)

|-

|Sturnus

|

  • Common starling (S. vulgaris)
  • Spotless starling (S. unicolor)

|frameless

Common starling

(S. vulgaris)

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+Rhabdornis clade

!Genus

!Species

!Image

|-

|Rhabdornis

|

  • Stripe-headed rhabdornis (R. mystacalis)
  • Grand rhabdornis (R. grandis)
  • Stripe-breasted rhabdornis (R. inornatus)
  • Visayan rhabdornis (R. rabori)

|frameless

Grand rhabdornis

(R. grandis)

|}

{| class="wikitable"

|+Unresolved

!Genus

!Species

!Image

|-

|†Cryptopsar

|

  • Mauritius starling (C. ischyrhynchus)

|frameless

Mauritius starling

(C. ischyrhynchus)

|}

The extinct Mascarene starlings were formerly of uncertain relationships, but are now thought to belong to the Oriental-Australasian clade, being allied with the Bali myna.