Starlings are brilliant, beautiful, hysterical beings with remarkable and unique personalities. As members of the mynah family, they can learn to talk in addition to imitating whatever sounds strike their fancy.
Ahh...thank you, MAA, for such a lovely comment and convincing defense of these feathered friends. I laughed out at loud at your inclusion of the word "hysterical"! 🙂
There are starlings hanging out on phones lines just a few blocks from our house. I love looking up and listening to them chat away. Not surprised that they’re considered a threat, just as we are. ;-)
I absolutely love this post - thanks Mickey for hearing her voice (I always say him or her when referring to any animal, never "it" because it reduces a being to a thing) - and yes, exactly - thanks for pointing out the absurdity and irony of calling free living animals celebrating their lives "health risks" when it's the health departments and medical industry and modern society that is the real health risk... Sending appreciation!
Thank you for sharing, Lorie. I will admit to initially being unsure about making a post like this. Well, you and others here have made it clear that contemplating the beauty of nature is something you regularly do! 🙂
🙂
Starlings are brilliant, beautiful, hysterical beings with remarkable and unique personalities. As members of the mynah family, they can learn to talk in addition to imitating whatever sounds strike their fancy.
They are also unfairly maligned and don’t represent the threat to native birds often claimed, research suggests (http://www.starlingtalk.com/starlings_and_cavitynesters.htm).
Once we defeat tyranny and end democide, I’ll finish my book about raising two orphaned starlings. In the meantime, I highly recommend these books:
• “Arnie the Darling Starling”
• “Mozart’s Starling”
Ahh...thank you, MAA, for such a lovely comment and convincing defense of these feathered friends. I laughed out at loud at your inclusion of the word "hysterical"! 🙂
And thanks for the link and book suggestions!
There are starlings hanging out on phones lines just a few blocks from our house. I love looking up and listening to them chat away. Not surprised that they’re considered a threat, just as we are. ;-)
It's like we live in the Topsy-Turvy, huh?
And yes, as a fellow New Yorker, you appreciate the daily experience of sharing a location with so many fascinating birbs!
This.
🙂
I absolutely love this post - thanks Mickey for hearing her voice (I always say him or her when referring to any animal, never "it" because it reduces a being to a thing) - and yes, exactly - thanks for pointing out the absurdity and irony of calling free living animals celebrating their lives "health risks" when it's the health departments and medical industry and modern society that is the real health risk... Sending appreciation!
💕
I love starlings. They used to sit on a tree across the street from me (in Staten Island) and sing at sunset. It was beautiful.
Thank you for sharing, Lorie. I will admit to initially being unsure about making a post like this. Well, you and others here have made it clear that contemplating the beauty of nature is something you regularly do! 🙂