Noisy. Drab. Pest. These are common reactions when I mention the starling. That is totally understandable. They are indeed loud, nonnative, and commonplace. But they have one amazing super power.

Winter starlings are black with white spots, but spring starlings can be brilliantly iridescent. Photo by Jeff Tome You can find birds living just about anywhere if you stop to look around for a bit, ...

I mostly write about native birds, species that have existed in California since long before European settlement. However, there are also a few species of local birds that are not native to the New ...