European starling

by Roland D. Hallee

Last week while looking out my kitchen window, I observed a flock of starlings that had settled in a nearby tree. There were so many, it looked like the tree was completely leafed out with its summer dress. There had to be dozens of them. It reminded me of many years ago when I had some thick brush in my backyard. Dozens of starlings would show up to feed.

The common starling, Sturnus vulgaris, also known as the European starling, or in the British Isles just the starling, is a medium-sized bird about eight inches long and has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, which is speckled with white at some times of year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browner plumage than the adults. It is a noisy bird, especially in communal roosts and other gregarious situations, with an unmusical but varied song. Its gift for mimicry has been noted in literature including the Mabinogion and the works of Pliny the Elder and William Shakespeare.

The common starling has been introduced to Australia, New Zealand, Canada, United States, Mexico, Peru, Argentina, the Falkland Islands, Brazil, Chile, Uruguay, South Africa and Fiji.

Large flocks typical of this species can be beneficial to agriculture by controling pests; however, starlings can also be pests themselves when they feed on fruit and sprouting crops. Common starlings may also be a nuisance through the noise and mess caused by their large urban roosts. The species has declined in numbers, despite this, its huge global population is not thought to be declining significantly, so the common starling is classified as being of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The European starling ranks third, behind only the red-winged blackbird and the American robin, as the most abundant species in North America.

After two failed attempts, about 60 common starlings were released in 1890 into New York’s Central Park by Eugene Schieffelin. He was president of the American Acclimatization Society, which tried to introduce every bird species mentioned in the works of William Shakespeare into North America. The original 60 birds have since swelled in number to 150 million, occupying an area extending from southern Canada and Alaska to Central America.

The global population of common starlings was estimated to be 310 million individuals in 2004, occupying a total area of 3,420,000 square miles.

Although flock size is highly variable, huge, noisy flocks may form near roosts. These dense concentrations of birds are thought to be a defense against attacks by birds of prey such as peregrine falcons. Flocks form a tight sphere-like formation in flight, frequently expanding and contracting and changing shape, seemingly without any sort of leader. Each common starling changes its course and speed as a result of the movement of its closest neighbors.

A majority of starling predators are avian. Their ability in flight are seldom matched by birds of prey. Adult common starlings are hunted by hawks. Slower raptors tend to take the more easily caught fledglings or juveniles. While perched in groups by night, they can be vulnerable to owls.

Common starlings are hosts to a wide range of parasites. A survey of three hundred common starlings from six U.S. states found that all had at least one type of parasite; 99 percent had external fleas, mites or ticks, and 95 percent carried internal parasites, mostly various types of worm. Blood-sucking species leave their host when it dies, but other external parasites stay on the corpse.

Common starlings introduced to areas such as Australia or North America, where other members of the genus are absent, may have an impact on native species through competition for nest holes. In North America, chickadees, nuthatches, woodpeckers, purple martins and other swallows may be affected. For its role in the decline of local native species and the damages to agriculture, the common starling has been included in the IUCN List of the world’s 100 worst invasive species.

Common starlings can eat and damage fruit in orchards such as grapes, peaches, olives, currants and tomatoes or dig up newly-sown grain and sprouting crops. They may also eat animal feed and distribute seeds through their droppings. Agricultural damage in the U.S. is estimated as costing about $800 million annually. This bird is considered to be damaging to agriculture the United States.

The large size of flocks can also cause problems. Common starlings may be sucked into aircraft jet engines, one of the worst instances of this being an incident in Boston in 1960, when 62 people died after a turboprop airliner flew into a flock and plummeted into the sea at Winthrop Harbor.

Starlings’ droppings can contain the fungus Histoplasma capsulatum, the cause of histoplasmosis in humans. At roosting sites this fungus can thrive in accumulated droppings. There are a number of other infectious diseases that can potentially be transmitted by common starlings to humans, although the potential for the birds to spread infections may have been exaggerated.

The common starling’s gift for mimicry has long been recognized. In the medieval Welsh Mabinogion, Branwen tamed a common starling, “taught it words,” and sent it across the Irish Sea with a message to her brothers, Bran and Manawydan, who then sailed from Wales to Ireland to rescue her. Pliny the Elder claimed these birds could be taught to speak whole sentences in Latin and Greek, and in Henry IV, William Shakespeare had Hotspur declare, “The king forbade my tongue to speak of Mortimer. But I will find him when he is asleep, and in his ear I’ll holler ‘Mortimer!’ Nay I’ll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer, and give it to him to keep his anger still in motion.”

Mozart had a pet common starling which could sing part of his Piano Concerto in G Major (KV. 453). He had bought it from a shop after hearing it sing a phrase from a work he wrote six weeks previously.

After all of this, I wonder where the starling fits in our ecosystem. Is it beneficial, is it destructive to agriculture, is it a carrier of disease, or is it smart enough to learn Mozart? Whatever the outcome, I hope the sweet peas make it to fruition.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Who won the Rumble in the Jungle, Muhammad Ali or George Foreman?

Red-winged Blackbird

by Roland D. Hallee

More and more in recent days, I have seen and heard of the return of the red-winged blackbird. It is the first of migrating birds to return in the spring. A sure sign that spring is near.

The red-winged blackbird is one of the most abundant birds across North America, and one of the most boldly colored, the red-winged blackbird is a familiar sight atop cattails, along soggy roadsides, and on telephone wires. Glossy-black males have scarlet-and-yellow shoulder patches they can puff up or hide depending on how confident they feel. Females are a subdued, streaky brown, almost like a large, dark sparrow. Their early and tumbling song are happy indications of the return of spring.

You can find red-winged blackbirds in the breeding season by visiting cattail marshes and other wetlands, or simply by watching telephone wires on a drive through the country. Driving in and around China’s wetlands, the bird can be seen perched on small trees in the marshes. Where there’s standing water and vegetation, Red-winged Blackbirds are likely to be one of the most common birds you see and hear. Listen for the male’s conk-la-lee! song.

Red-winged blackbirds may come to your yard for mixed grains and seeds, particularly during migration. Spread grain or seed on the ground as well, since this is where red-winged blackbirds prefer to feed. Find out more about what this bird likes to eat and what feeder is best by using the Project FeederWatch Common Feeder Birds bird list.

Different populations and subspecies of Red-winged Blackbirds vary markedly in size and proportions. An experiment was conducted that moved nestlings between populations and found the chicks grew up to resemble their foster parents. This study indicated that much of the difference seen between populations is the result of different environments rather than different genetic makeups.

The Red-winged Blackbird is a highly polygynous species, meaning males have many female mates – up to 15 in some cases. In some populations 90 percent of territorial males have more than one female nesting on their territories. But all is not as it seems: one-quarter to one-half of nestlings turn out to have been sired by someone other than the territorial male.

Male Red-winged Blackbirds fiercely defend their territories during the breeding season, spending more than a quarter of daylight hours in territory defense. He chases other males out of the territory and attacks nest predators, sometimes going after much larger animals, including horses and people.

Red-winged Blackbirds roost in flocks in all months of the year. In summer small numbers roost in the wetlands where the birds breed. Winter flocks can be congregations of several million birds, including other blackbird species and starlings. Each morning the roosts spread out, traveling as far as 50 miles to feed, then re-forming at night.

One California subspecies of the Red-winged Blackbird lacks the yellow borders to the red shoulders (epaulets) and has been dubbed the “bicolored blackbird.” Some scientists think this plumage difference may help Red-winged Blackbirds recognize each other where their range overlaps with the similar Tricolored Blackbird.

The oldest recorded Red-winged Blackbird was 15 years, 9 months old. It was banded in New Jersey in 1967, and found alive, but injured in Michigan in 1983. It was able to be released after recovering from its injuries.

Bruins slumping

For those of you who watched the Boston Bruins embarrassing loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning on Saturday, March 15, here is something you probably didn’t see on television. I attended that game, and after the Bruins were outshot 20-0 in the second period, and at the end of the game, when they were outshot 39-12 in a 6-2 loss, the team was vociferously booed off the ice by the fans. Oh, the fickle finger of fans.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Who was the last MLB player to win the triple crown (batting average, home runs, RBI)?

by Roland D. Hallee

You must remember the cartoon character of a bird with an innate chutzpah and brash demeanor that would fly into our living rooms during cartoon Saturdays in the 1950s and 1960s. He possessed a fluffy red crest and a laugh that bordered on insanity. He was Woody Woodpecker, the 1940 creation of Walter Lantz at Universial Studios, whose character and design would evolve over the years from an insane bird with an unusually garish design to a more refined looking and acting character in the vein of Bugs Bunny.

Why am I bringing this up? Recently, a local resident sent a photo along to us about seeing one by Sheepscot Lake. While they are not a rare bird, they can be quite shy and wary. I have seen a few of them at camp, but usually from relatively long distances. I even had one sitting on an old apple tree stump in my backyard at home, in Waterville, a few years back.

Pileated woodpeckers are a very large North American woodpecker, almost crow sized, inhabiting deciduous forests in eastern North America, the Great Lakes region, the boreal forests of Canada, and into parts of the Pacific Northwest. They are considered the largest North American woodpecker, although the Ivory-billed Woodpecker is larger; its numbers are such that it is considered near or at extinction, although one has been sighted in Maine in recent years.

When Europeans first arrived in North America, they found a land blanketed with mature woods that were the favorite haunts of pileated woodpeckers. During the 18th and 19th centuries, much of this great forest was cut, and the pileateds became rare over much of their range. Changes in lumbering practices and the abandonment of many eastern farms have allowed much of the forest to regenerate. They still need large tracts of woodlands, but they have adapted well to younger trees.

They measure 16-19 inches in length with a red crest and black bill. You’ll find these birds in mature forests with large trees. The territory of these birds can range from 150 – 200 acres. Signs of their presence can be detected by looking for 3 x 6 inch holes in trees. Using suet feeders can bring them close up, at times.

The call is a wild laugh, similar to the Northern Flicker. Its drumming can be very loud, often sounding like someone striking a tree with a hammer. The bird favors mature forests, but has adapted to use second-growth stands and heavily wooded parks as well.

Since these birds eat carpenter ants and wood-boring beetle larvae that tunnel deep into the wood, the birds will excavate a long gash, roughly rectangular, in a tree to retrieve ants.

Pileated woodpeckers raise their young every year in a hole in a tree. In April, the hole made by the male attracts a female for mating and raising their young. Once the brood is raised the woodpeckers abandon the hole and will not use it the next year.

The females will lay three to five white eggs which are incubated for 15-16 days by both the male and female birds. Both male and female will also feed the nestlings. The young woodpeckers will fledge the nest in 24-28 days. The adults and the young will stay together until fall. During this time, the adult birds will continue to feed them and teach them how to find their own food. Around September, the family will break up and the young will find territories of their own.

Pileated woodpeckers have been observed to move eggs that have fallen out of the nest to another site, a rare habit in birds.

Common predators of the pileated woodpecker are Black snakes, Coopers Hawks, Northern Goshawks, Red-tailed Hawks, Great Horned owls and squirrels.

So, pay attention, listen for a low-pitched drumming that trails off in speed and volume at the end. Follow the sound, and you just may find one.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

How many MLB teams have retired Nolan Ryan’s number?

Maine Coon Cat

by Roland D. Hallee

Recently, my daughter and one of my granddaughters have expressed an interest in bringing home a Maine coon cat. I’ve heard a lot about coon cats, but what makes them so different, and their size.

The Maine Coon is a large domesticated cat breed. One of the oldest natural breeds in North America, the breed originated in the U.S. state of Maine, where it is the official state cat.

The Maine Coon is commonly referred to as “the gentle giant.” The Maine Coon is predominantly known for its size and dense coat of fur which helps it survive in the harsh climate of Maine. The Maine Coon is often cited as having the characteristics of a dog.

The Maine Coon has a distinctive physical appearance and valuable hunting skills. The breed was popular in cat shows in the late 19th century, but its existence became threatened when long-haired breeds from overseas were introduced in the early 20th century. The Maine Coon has since made a comeback, in 2023 the Maine Coon overtook the Exotic, becoming the second most popular pedigree cat breed in the world.

However, their lineage is surrounded by mystery, folk tales, and myths. One myth claims the Maine Coon cat is a hybrid with another animal species, such as the raccoon or bobcat. The second myth states the cats are descendants of Viking ship’s cats, known today as the Norwegian Forest cats. A third story involves Marie Antoinette, the Queen of France, who was executed in 1793. The story goes that before her death, Antoinette attempted to escape France with the help of Captain Samuel Clough. She loaded Clough’s ship with her most prized possessions, including six of her favorite Turkish Angora or possibly Siberian cats. Although she did not make it to the United States, all of her pets managed to reach the shore of Wiscasset, safely, where they bred with other short-haired breeds and developed into the modern breed.

These myths and theories have long speculated that the long-haired Maine Coon cat has to be related to other long-haired breeds, due to their similarities in the observable characteristics or traits in an individual based on the expression of their genes. For the Maine Coon in particular, that it is descended from the Norwegian or Siberian Forest cat, brought to New England by settlers or Vikings. Studies showed the Maine Coon belongs to the Western European cat branch, but forms the closest relationship with the random-bred cat population in the Northeastern U.S. (New York region). This Western European branch contains the Norwegian and Siberian Forest cat.

Maine Coons are descendants of cats brought to New England by Puritan settlers in the 1600-1700s.

The first mention of Maine Coon cats in a literary work was in 1861, in Frances Simpson’s The Book of the Cat (1903). F.R. Pierce, who owned several Maine Coons, wrote a chapter about the breed. During the late 1860s, farmers located in Maine told stories about their cats and held the “Maine State Champion Coon Cat” contest at the Skowhegan State Fair.

In the early 20th century, the Maine Coon’s popularity began to decline with the introduction of other long-haired breeds, such as the Persian, which originated in the Middle East. The last recorded win by a Maine Coon in a national cat show for over 40 years was in 1911 at a show in Portland, Oregon. The breed was rarely seen after that. The decline was so severe the breed was declared extinct in the 1950s, although this declaration was considered to be exaggerated and reported prematurely at the time.

Maine Coons have several physical adaptations for survival in harsh winter climates. Their dense water-resistant fur is longer and shaggier on their underside and rear for extra protection when they are walking or sitting on top of wet surfaces of snow or ice. Their long and bushy raccoon-like tail is resistant to sinking in snow, and can be curled around their face and shoulders for warmth and protection from wind and blowing snow. It can even be curled around their backside like an insulated seat cushion when sitting down on a frozen surface.

Large paws help with walking on snow and are often compared to snowshoes. Long tufts of fur growing between their toes help keep the toes warm and further aid walking on snow by giving the paws additional structure without significant extra weight. Heavily furred ears with extra long tufts of fur growing from inside can keep warm more easily.

Maine Coons can have any colors that other cats have. Colors indicating crossbreeding.

In 2010, the Guinness World Records accepted a male purebred Maine Coon named “Stewie” as the “Longest Cat”, measuring 48.5 inches from the tip of his nose to the tip of his tail. Stewie died on February 4, 2013, from cancer at his home in Reno, Nevada, at age 8.

The median life expectancy of a Maine Coon is 12.5 years.

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

What is the Philadelphia Eagles record in the Super Bowl?

Black crappie

by Roland D. Hallee

Because I spend my summers on Webber Pond, in Vassalboro, I have the chance to fish that lake extensively. In the 35 years my wife and I have summered there, we have caught plenty of fish of many various species: small and largemouth bass, white perch, yellow perch, chain pickerel, eels, to name a few.

Until 2009, we had not heard of anyone catching black crappie. But the catch has become quite common in the ensuing years.

The first question that comes to mind is whether the fish ladder at the dam on the Webber Pond Road (built in 2008) had anything to do with it. Probably not, but why, all of a sudden, are there crappies in the lake? That is the same question people residing on Togus Pond, in Augusta, have been asking, since the fish has made its appearance there recently.

Black crappie, also known as calico bass, is a member of the sunfish family. These fish seem to fall in the love-hate category. Many people I have spoken with like the fish, saying they are a very tasty pan fish, while others put them in the same class as sunfish – what they describe as trash fish.

Despite that, they are a fairly popular fish although most of them have been artificially introduced. Black crappies are a schooling fish which leads to fast, intense fishing, an experience that many anglers prefer.

Adult crappies are typically around 6-12 inches long and weigh somewhere between two to three pounds. Typical crappie fisheries produce fish between 6 and 11 inches long, although crappies exceeding 14 inches and three pounds have been caught in Maine waters.

Their spawning season varies by location, due to the species’ great range. Water temperature at breeding is 58-68 degrees F. and occurs between April and June. Spawning takes place in a nest built by the male, who guards the eggs and young.

Closely resembling bass and sunfish species, which have 10-12 dorsal fin spines, crappies possess 6-8 dorsal fin spines. Body form is very deep and narrow, much like the sunfish. The coloration is silvery-olive to golden brown, with an irregular mosaic of dark black blotches.

Adults feed predominantly on smaller species, including the young of their own predators. They have diverse diets, however, including zooplankton, insects and crustaceans. This could be an added plus to Webber Pond. Over the last 10 – 12 years, Webber Pond has experienced a tremendous improvement in water quality due, in part, to the return of the alewives, who also feed on zooplanktin. Zooplanktin feed on algae, and when alewives, in turn, ingest the zooplanktin and leave the waters in the fall, they take with them large quantities of algae. With the addition of the black crappie as an eater of zooplanktin, it can be interpreted as a potential for even more improvements. It would be nice if their presence helped with the declining water quality on Webber Pond over the last couple of years.

By day, crappies tend to be less active and to concentrate around weed beds or submerged objects, such as logs and boulders. They feed especially at dawn and dusk, moving then into open water or approaching the shore. Because of their diverse diets, crappie may be caught in many ways, including casting light jigs, trolling with minnows or artificial lures, using small spinnerbaits or worm and bobbers. We catch them on red shad plastic worms, using the cast and retrieve method.

This year, for the first time, we have kept our catch of black crappie and fileted them. Rolling them in a batter of egg and corn meal, with some garlic pepper, we fry them in a pan, or cook them over an open fire. They make great fish filet sandwiches with cheese and lettuce.

Fishing for black crappies is most productive during the early morning or early evening while the air is relatively cool. They can be caught during the day, however, in more active waters. Be patient.

Black crappie are fairly common in the waters of southern Maine and in some of the Belgrade lakes.

A big ”Hooray”! for public education

I might be a little harsh right now, but I saw and heard a couple of things this past weekend that makes me wonder about education in general.

First, there was the mayor of Philadelphia who, at a rally to celebrate the Philadelphia Eagles advancing to the NFL championship game, gave the cheer, E-L-G-L-E-S, GO BIRDS!.

Then, I was in Boston on Monday at a Bruins game when I saw a fan in the stands displaying a sign that read, ”Go Bosten!”

Notice the similarities between the two?

Roland’s trivia question of the week:

Name the only female race car driver to have led both the Indianapolis 500 and the Daytona 500.