This colorful bird is the European Starling.

A wealthy drug manufacturer and Shakespeare lover, Eugene Scheifflen, decided he would attempt to bring every bird mentioned by Shakespeare to the United States, starting with starlings. The first flocks were located in Central Park. By 1910 the birds were well-established on the East Coast south to Virginia. By 1942 they had spread the width of the United States to California.

Shown here in breeding plumage, the European Starling is a prime example of the risks involved in introducing non-native species into a new country.

Without its traditional population controls, the Europen Starling quickly spread across most of the United States. This aggressive species out-competes many of our native cavity nesting birds and does millions of dollars of agricultural damage in the United States each year.