Common Starling

Sturnus vulgaris

Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sturnidae
Presence in the Strait: Seasonal
Abundance: abundant
IUCN (global): LC · Least concern
In Spanish: Estornino pinto

Photograph: Shiva Shenoy, CC BY, vía iNaturalist

Length: 21 cm
Weight: 80 g

Presence in the Strait

Abundant winter visitor to open areas. Numbers vary from year to year but may reach as many as 15,000 birds.

Identification

In winter it is like a Spotless Starling but with heavier spotting and browner-toned upperparts. They form mixed flocks.

Movements

Peaks in November and February.

Ring recoveries

Switzerland (12), Germany (9), Poland (4), Czech Republic (3), France (2) and Belgium (1). silueta en vuelo / silhouette in flight Sturnidae Estornino Negro ad.E ad.W Estornino Pinto ad.W

Bioestrecho editorial text. Last revised: 8 September 2026.

Calendar in the Strait

25 %

Peak in December. Observations under CC0 or CC BY licences. The distribution also reflects observation effort.

Where it is seen

Open records from the atlas database, in cells of about 3.6 km. Opacity follows the square root of the count, and also reflects where people observe most.

See on the map

First open record: 17 November 1950
Latest record: 3 April 2026

The oldest and the most recent open observation in the extended area. A recent first observation does not mean the species is new: it means nobody had published it openly before.

Conservation

The catalogues, Andalusian and Spanish, are what binds; the Red Book assesses the Spanish population with IUCN criteria, and the global Red List is the context.

LCNTVUENCR

Andalusian Catalogue: Not included
Spanish Catalogue: Not included
Red Book of the Birds of Spain 2021: LC · Least concern · breeding
Global Red List (IUCN): LC · Least concern

Andalusian Catalogue: Junta de Andalucía, list of 24 April 2025. Spanish Catalogue: MITECO, table of 30 June 2025. Red Book: SEO/BirdLife, 2021 (Annex I). IUCN: via GBIF, 6 September 2026. Red Book and IUCN categories are assessments; catalogue categories are legal obligations.

Where they come from

31 birds ringed in other countries and recovered in the area.

Switzerland12
Germany9
Poland4
Czech Republic3
France2
Belgium1

See the journey on the map

Same genus in the Strait

Spotless Starling21–21 cm · Resident · overlapping size

Species of the same genus that also occur here, ordered by how close they are in size. Being relatives does not mean they are confused in the field, but that is where the doubts start: compare size and season.

Classification

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sturnidae
GBIF taxon key: 9809229

Sources

Distribution and calendar: Bioestrecho's own database, ingested from GBIF and OBIS
Photograph: Shiva Shenoy, CC BY, vía iNaturalist
Taxonomy: GBIF backbone, pending WoRMS for marine taxa
Editorial text: written by Bioestrecho
Last revised: 8 September 2026