Sturnus vulgaris
The Common Starling is one of the most adaptable and intelligent birds in the Danube Delta. It is famous for its incredible ability to mimic other birds or mechanical sounds and for the impressive aerial displays (murmurations) it offers in autumn, when thousands of birds fly in synchronised formations above reed beds.
Plumage appears black at a distance, but up close reveals superb metallic iridescence in green and purple. In winter, the plumage is speckled with numerous white spots. The bill is yellow during the breeding season and becomes dark for the rest of the year.
It occupies a wide variety of habitats: from village gardens to sandbar forest edges and reed beds. In the Delta, it is present everywhere it finds nesting sites and food.
It is an extremely sociable bird. It feeds on the ground, searching for insects and larvae, but in autumn becomes a voracious consumer of fruit (grapes, berries). It is known for its collective "concerts" full of whistles and imitations.
It nests in any available cavity: tree holes, wall crevices or nest boxes. It often raises two broods per year. Juvenile starlings are uniform brown without iridescence.
"Least Concern" (LC). The population in Romania is robust, the species benefiting from agricultural activities and human settlements in the Delta.