Why They Call Them “Star”lings All Covered with Stars Because they are covered all over with stars! Don’t fall for that. They really look like polka-dots. These birds of The Birds fame are probably one of the least popular birds in America aside from pigeons, partly because they are very social birds and tend to gather in huge flocks, landing all together in one place and squabbling and eating everything and leaving their droppings. Up close they have strangely intense faces without the wide-set clear round eyes we are accustomed to on most songbirds, just beady dots in the midst of all those other polka dots, and their whole face seems to be pulled to a point by someone tugging on their long, thin beak. But their feathers are beautiful, colorful with multiple patterns of dots, tail and wing feathers edged in white. Here a European Starling plots an entry to the feeder. Share this:Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)Like this:Like Loading... Related Post navigation Pink and Orange Plastic RainA Study in Contrasts Leave a ReplyCancel reply This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.