On the Wing #36: More Than a Murmuration
They're hard to miss at this time of year. They stream in like blackened snowflakes from the skies above, their forms resembling the sleekest of fighter jets, while remaining in a tight, undulating flock with a flight path about as predictable as the course of water over new ground. I am, of course, referring to the European Starling ( Sturnus vulgaris ) that flock together when the winter months beckon and swear to freeze every single bird to their perch! I see them a lot these days when I'm sitting at work and on the way to and from many a town nearby, but their ubiquitous nature and presence in our modern America doesn't mean they were always here or should have been in the first place. Thanks to a man named Eugene Schieffelin and several other members of a band of European Shakespeare aficionados, the dream of bringing a bird mentioned once in King Henry IV, Pt. 1 as well as all the other birds associated with his exemplary works. As such we, the people, have to suffe...