Where do starlings nest?

For most of the year, Starlings live in huge flocks around Beaufort. Who hasn’t noticed them, gathered on power lines, foraging on lawns or visiting bird feeders. Then in spring they pair up and look for nest sites. My curiosity about where the nests are located was quickly satisfied. Here’s an adult European Starling (Sturnus vulgarais) in glossy breeding plumage and bright yellow beak at the entrance to its nest…

Within the Old Burying Ground in the historic district, the ancient live oak trees host numerous pairs of nesting Starlings. The natural openings, just large enough for a single bird, lead into hollow cavities inside the trees…

Between April and June, the Old Burying Ground is buzzing with activity as Starlings come and go, bringing in nest materials, incubating eggs, and feeding their noisy hatchlings. To my delight, almost every tree had a nest inside an opening. It takes many trips to build a nest…

Nest construction takes about one week with both male and female participating. Most of the work involves lining the nest with materials like pine needles, grass, feathers, or bits of trash. Of course, it’s impossible to see inside the cavity, but the female eventually lays 4 or 5 eggs. Then, for about 12 days, both parents take turns incubating the eggs hidden inside the cavity… 

I knew there were chicks in the nest when I heard the peeping sounds of begging nestlings. Finally, the head of a nestling appeared at the entry hole…

For the next few weeks the nestlings waited impatiently to be fed…

Meanwhile, their parents were scrambling to gather more food…

Starlings have a tendency to return to the same nest sites where they’ve nested in the past. Here’s a slideshow of one nest that I’ve watched over several years…

After three weeks, the young leave the nest. Juvenile birds are uniformly brown with dark bills.

For another 2 or 3 weeks, the parents continue to feed the fledglings, often seen begging…

Starlings are not choosy about nest sites. If a natural cavity is not available, almost any cavity can be a potential nest site. Look at the variety of nesting places that I spotted, located all around town, on ledges or inside vents and ducts…

Here’s a nest in a hole in a corner ledge on a porch…

Here’s an entrance to a cavity under the roof of an historic building…

This active nest on the ledge of a porch is marked by droppings sprayed around above the nest hole…

Gradually, the youngsters grow into non-breeding adults, wearing the typical dotted plumage worn by Starlings in winter…

Although considered by many to be an invasive species and a nuisance bird, European Starlings are a prominent member of our bird community.

I’m A Starling, Me Darling by Pam Ayres

We’re starlings, the misses, meself and the boys,
We don’t go round hoppin’, we walks.
We don’t go in for this singing all day,
And twittering about, we just squawks.

We don’t go in for these fashionable clothes,
Like old Missel Thrush, and his spots,
Me breast isn’t red, there’s no crest on me head,
We’ve got sort of, hardwearing…dots.

For more photos of nesting birds…

• Nesting Flycatchers >>
• A Dove’s Nest >>
• Woodpecker Nest 1 >>
• Woodpecker Nest 2 >>