A Dragon in Sheep’s Clothing

I looked up Starlings to make sure that was the kind of bird I was seeing in my yard yesterday, and discovered this interesting tidbit:

All the European Starlings in North America descended from 100 birds released in New York’s Central Park in the early 1890s. A group dedicated to introducing America to all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s works set the birds free. Today, European Starlings range from Alaska to Florida and northern Mexico, and their population is estimated at over 200 million birds. Its successful spread is believed to have come at the expense of many native birds that compete with the starling for nest holes. More from All About Birds by Cornell>>

I also found that I may be mistaking the Common Grackle for a Starling. Both have iridescent feathers. The Starling’s beak can change color, so it is not always yellow. I think the surest way for my untrained eye to tell them apart is, well, by their eyes. Grackles have yellow eyes, and Starlings’ are black.

Common Grackle>>
European Starling>>

Coincidentally, I ran across a news item today about another invasive species :

The red lionfish, a tropical native of the Indian and Pacific oceans that probably escaped from a Florida fish tank, is showing up everywhere — from the coasts of Cuba and Hispaniola to Little Cayman’s pristine Bloody Bay Wall, one of the region’s prime destinations for divers. This maroon-striped marauder is swallowing native species, stinging divers and generally wreaking havoc on an ecologically delicate region.
More at MSNBC>>