Chapter 14

It wasn’t until an old friend called Starlings - “disheveled professors” that I learned to love this deceptive bird. European Starlings are like the invasive plants that naturalists and environmentalists warn us to NOT encourage [live, grow, darn you…]. The Starling was brought over to the United States, and like the European Colonists, the Starlings took over this continent, crowding out quieter birds, forcing them to retreat, retreat, vanish into thin air… the Starling remains. I remember seeing the Starling, as I struggled through teenage-hood. Like many other human bird fanciers, I would groan at this dull bird taking over the feeders, the landscapes, pushing aside the prettier, smaller birds…

Yet, when the term “disheveled professor” got into my mind, in reference to the Starling, I looked at this bird with a new eye - and was surprised.

They ARE Cinderella, dressed in dull rags, with the gown for the ball underneath. They ARE the knight in shining armor, wearing a black coat, which he takes off before he fights his foe… Starlings are a dark brown, almost black with flecks of gold almost underneath these darker feathers – it is a buried treasure this gold.

However, “disheveled professors” don’t carry gold in their back pockets – think about what a disheveled professor looks like - glasses crooked, his suit jacket messed up, wrinkled, his hair sticking out in all different directions, his tie on crooked, and his shirt underneath probably in need of a wash…

Now look at Starlings when they perch on the telephone wires. They’ll stay there throughout a rainstorm. The Starling is the ONLY bird I’ve ever seen who looks VERY BAD after getting wet – like a disheveled professor!

They are very social beings, and surprisingly, their song is BEAUTIFUL.

I once watched a row of Starlings on a telephone wire, during a rainstorm. A group of them huddled together. There was one who was a sitting a part from this group. He looked much “disheveled”, and downright miserable. Then, one of the starlings from the group flew up in the air and then flew over to perch next to this lonely fellow.

It made me smile that.