Most years starlings nest in the awning over our backdoor. It's rotten, with a convenient hole in the front and should have been replaced years ago, but whenever I get around to thinking about doing that the next generation of starlings moves in. So they're welcome on two counts - I can legitimately put off the job for another year and I can also enjoy their fine, iridescent breeding plumage (double-click for a better view). When they are prospecting the site it sounds like they're running around inside with hob-nail boots on but once they are incubating eggs it all goes quiet.
When the ultra-demanding fledglings finally emerge they make their parents' life hell for a while, demanding to be fed when they could quite easily feed themselves but.....
... they gradually get the idea.
Fledgling starlings' plumage is deadly dull, compared with the wonderful iridescence of their parents' feathers but that all begins to change in the following year .........
.... when they become sharp-suited, confrontational and raucous.
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