The common starling, a widespread bird species, is well-known for its remarkably intricate and often surprising vocalizations. Their diverse sounds create a captivating and unique acoustic presence across various environments.
Distinctive Features of Starling Song
Starling song is characterized by its continuous and fluid nature, incorporating a wide variety of sounds. They produce clear whistles, liquid warbling, harsh chattering, high-pitched trills, rattles, and strident screams. These elements are often strung together in long, complex sequences. Males typically engage in song bouts lasting a minute or more, cycling through whistles, warbles, rattles, and high-frequency phases without pause.
A remarkable aspect of starling song is their exceptional ability for vocal mimicry. Starlings incorporate sounds from other bird species, such as curlews, green woodpeckers, buzzards, and lapwings. They also mimic human speech, car alarms, phone ringtones, and engine revs. Starlings can integrate new sounds into their song even after hearing them only once.
The Purpose Behind Starling Vocalizations
Starling vocalizations serve several important functions, primarily in reproduction and social communication. The complexity and variety of a male starling’s song play a role in attracting mates. Females prefer males with more complex songs, as this indicates higher quality and potentially more breeding experience. Males with intricate songs have been observed to secure mates more quickly, regardless of the territory’s quality.
Song is also used for territorial defense, signaling a male’s presence and warning rivals. Starlings may use various singing behaviors to convey aggression to other males, such as song matching or singing quietly when faced with intruders. Vocalizations also contribute to communication within flocks, helping to locate suitable habitats or synchronize breeding activities within a colony.
How Starlings Learn Their Songs
Unlike many bird species with innate songs, starlings acquire their vocalizations through imitation and practice, a process known as open-ended learning. They continuously add new elements to their repertoire throughout their lives, learning from other starlings and environmental sounds. Wild males typically possess a larger repertoire than captive males, showing the importance of environmental exposure.
Starlings begin with a “subsong” that is variable but resembles their future adult song. As they mature, they learn from other males, with a sensitive learning period during their juvenile stage. Around 10 months of age, the male’s bill changes color, coinciding with the development of their whistle song, suggesting a hormonal influence. The learning process also involves changes in the bird’s brain, with specific cells becoming “tuned” to the sound patterns they are learning.
Regional and Individual Song Differences
Variations exist in starling songs, including regional differences often referred to as “dialects,” similar to human accents. In their native ranges, such as Europe and Africa, starlings from different areas exhibit slightly different versions of their complex songs. However, in introduced populations, such as those in North America, these clear dialects are less consistently observed, with songs tending to be more uniform across locations.
Individual starlings develop unique repertoires based on their specific learning experiences and the sounds they encounter. While species-specific characteristics exist, individual males can have repertoires ranging from approximately 21 to 67 song types. Individual males develop distinct song patterns over time through interaction with other starlings.