starling1
/ˈstɑːlɪŋ
/noun
A gregarious Old World songbird with a straight bill, typically with dark lustrous or iridescent plumage but sometimes brightly coloured.
- Family Sturnidae (the starling family): many genera and numerous species, in particular the speckled common (or European) starling (Sturnus vulgaris), widely introduced elsewhere. The starling family also includes the mynahs, grackles, and (usually) the oxpeckers.
- Furthermore, in bluethroats, European starlings, and blue tits female choice for males with greater UV reflectance appears to favor structural plumage traits.
- Pigeons are predominant, but, as you explore, you see sparrows and bluebirds and flickers and blue jays and wrens and kestrels and starlings and robins.
Origin
Old English stærlinc, from stær 'starling' (of Germanic origin) + -ling.
Rhymes
starling2
/ˈstɑːlɪŋ/noun
A wooden pile erected with others around or just upstream of a bridge or pier to protect it from the current or floating objects.The starling is that portion of the pier which faces the direction of the stream, and acts like the cutwater of a ship.
Origin
Late 17th century: perhaps a corruption of dialect staddling 'staddle'.