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• starling
  starling

  noun

  a chunky, medium-sized European passerine bird, Sturnus vulgaris, of iridescent black plumage with seasonal speckles, that nests in colonies: introduced into North America.
• Starling
  Starling

  noun

  Ernest Henry . 1866–1927, British physiologist, who contributed greatly to the understanding of many bodily functions and with William Bayliss (1860–1924) discovered the hormone secretin (1902)

starling

¹ American  

[stahr-ling] / ˈstɑr lɪŋ /

noun

1. a chunky, medium-sized European passerine bird, Sturnus vulgaris, of iridescent black plumage with seasonal speckles, that nests in colonies: introduced into North America.

2. any of various similar Old World birds of the family Sturnidae.

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starling ² American  

[stahr-ling] / ˈstɑr lɪŋ /

noun

1. a pointed cluster of pilings for protecting a bridge pier from drifting ice, debris, etc.

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Starling ¹ British  

/ ˈstɑːlɪŋ /

noun

1. Ernest Henry . 1866–1927, British physiologist, who contributed greatly to the understanding of many bodily functions and with William Bayliss (1860–1924) discovered the hormone secretin (1902)

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starling ² British  

/ ˈstɑːlɪŋ /

noun

1. any gregarious passerine songbird of the Old World family Sturnidae , esp Sturnus vulgaris , which has a blackish plumage and a short tail

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starling ³ British  

/ ˈstɑːlɪŋ /

noun

1. an arrangement of piles that surround a pier of a bridge to protect it from debris, etc

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Etymology

Origin of starling¹

before 1050; Middle English; Old English stærling, equivalent to stær starling (cognate with Old High German stara, Old Norse stari ) + -ling -ling ¹; akin to Old English stearn kind of bird, Latin sturnus starling

Origin of starling²

First recorded in 1675–85; origin uncertain

Explanation

A starling is a small, dark, glossy bird that's usually found in a group with other starlings. Many starlings are able to mimic sounds such as car alarms. Aside from the hottest, driest deserts, you can find starlings just about everywhere on earth. When large groups of these sociable birds move in formation together, forming graceful, shifting cloud shapes in the sky, it's called a "murmuration." Starlings are also known for their ability to imitate the calls of other birds, as well as human-made sounds, including whistles, crying children, and car horns.

Example Sentences

One of the birds was a mourning dove and the other a European starling.

From Los Angeles Times • May 14, 2025

Prior to the year 2000, the starling was regularly the most numerous species recorded in the survey.

From BBC • Apr. 10, 2025

Royall continues: "These include schools of other fish such as goldfish or sardines, as well as flocks of birds such as starling murmurations and swarms of insects such as dancing mosquitos."

From Science Daily • Mar. 25, 2024

On a recent Thursday afternoon, the actress Keri Russell paused in a corner of Brooklyn Bridge Park to admire a starling.

From New York Times • Apr. 18, 2023

First, she thought, a snack Shoving her scrying device into her pocket, Sister Ignatia climbed up to the branch with the starling nest.

From "The Girl Who Drank the Moon" by Kelly Barnhill