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It was really windy and cold two days ago, perhaps causing many birds to come to our feeder as I have mentioned before. In addition to the ones that came regularly, there was a newcomer. It was an European Starling that somehow strayed from the large flocks it usually belongs to. You may see them as small black clouds drifting from one part of the sky to another.

European Starling

European Starling

The white dots on this bird are part of its winter plumage.

European Starling

European Starling

This bird is not native to North America. One hundred of them were brought from Europe to New York’s Central Park at the end of the 19th century by a group that wanted America to have all the birds mentioned by Shakespeare. Today there are 200 million of them from Alaska to Mexico, all descended from the original 100.

The single starling that came to our backyard only stayed for about two minutes. It watched other birds congregate around the bird feeder, but did not trying to compete for the sunflower seeds. Then it flew away and has not been seen since.