These two European Starlings have been coming to the suet feeders for a week or so. Their Latin name Sturnus vulgaris is fitting, since these non-natives are considered a vulgar nuisance when they mob lawns in big, noisy flocks. They appear black, but up close their feathers are dazzling iridescent blue, purple, gold, and green. Fortunately, just these two so far near the wild wild woods . . .
Studies of Starlings' mob movements have found that starling flocks model a complex physical phenomenon, seldom observed in physical and biological systems, known as scale-free correlation. Read more at starling murmurations
