Starling | Facts & Information

Food: frogs, small fish, mollusks, snakes and insects

Origin

It lives in mild climates in Europe, Asia and Southern Africa with the exception of the coastal region of Southern Namibia.

In frost-free regions it is sedentary, only in colder regions where winter freezes the waters it is a migratory bird.

The gray heron prefers puddle regions that are surrounded by vegetation. Lately it is approaching urban areas, it can be seen in parks with lakes.

It is also known as batlan.

Feeding Starc

Herons hunt aquatic animals in the pond. Its food consists of frogs, small fish, mollusks, snakes and aquatic insects. On pastures the bird waits motionless near a mouse hole, or steals eggs from bird nests.

It feeds on crustaceans, which it spades with the help of its beak. It also consumes marine worms, mollusks and other invertebrates.

Birds go in search of food in noisy flocks and search diligently in the muddy soil. They dig with their sturdy beak in the puddles between the rocks with water rich in algae.

Starc Features

The Heron has a height of about 90 cm and is somewhat smaller than a stork. The plumage on the head is white, it is adorned by a black mot; on the neck and back it is gray with white stripes. The eyes are surrounded by a black ring.

The wingspan at starc reaches 1.70 m. his flight is smoothly hovered with rare wing beats. The head in flight is pulled back, the neck forms an S-shaped loop.

The Starling has a long beak and legs to prevent it from sinking into the sea. The three toes on the foot are spoiled.

He has atrophied uropygeal glands. Therefore, to protect themselves from dampness and cold, spoil the feathers by rubbing the head against the chest.

Due to the regression of the Heron population in the 1970s, the birds were and are protected, which led to an increase in the population in northern Germany.

The gray Starling appears to us in March and begins to migrate in October-November to South-Western Europe and North-Eastern Africa. In milder winters many specimens remain with us, also some specimens do not migrate but remain all the time in our country looking for waters that do not freeze (Springs).

Breeding Starc

The nest, in which the female lays 4-5 greenish eggs, builds it from branches in trees, while in Holland herons build further the nest hidden in reeds.

Mortality in young herons is quite high, it is appreciated in the first six months of life at 70 %. A starc can live 24 years. Colonies of herons are noisy, there are constant conflicts between birds.

The restlessness in the colonies is also caused by the fact that crows steal eggs from nests.

During hatching, adult birds drive away intruders through a noisy sassait. Birds feed their young for a long time, which are covered by a protective fluff.