Male starling sings in April Самец скворца поет в апреле Männlicher Star singt im April 4月に男性ムクドリが歌う

The common starling or European starling (Sturnus vulgaris), also known simply as the starling in Great Britain and Ireland, is a medium-sized passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. The common starling is a noisy bird. Its song consists of a wide variety of both melodic and mechanical-sounding noises as part of a ritual succession of sounds. The male is the main songster and engages in bouts of song lasting for a minute or more. Each of these typically includes four varieties of song type, which follow each other in a regular order without pause. The bout starts with a series of pure-tone whistles and these are followed by the main part of the song, a number of variable sequences that often incorporate snatches of song mimicked from other species of bird and various naturally occurring or man-made noises. The structure and simplicity of the sound mimicked is of greater importance than the frequency with which it occurs. In some instances, a wild starling has been observed to mimic a sound it has heard only once. Each sound clip is repeated several times before the bird moves on to the next. After this variable section comes a number of types of repeated clicks followed by a final burst of high-frequency song, again formed of several types. Each bird has its own repertoire with more proficient birds having a range of up to 35 variable song types and as many as 14 types of clicks. Males sing constantly as the breeding period approaches and perform less often once pairs have bonded. In the presence of a female, a male sometimes flies to his nest and sings from the entrance, apparently attempting to entice the female in. Older birds tend to have a wider repertoire than younger ones. Those males that engage in longer bouts of singing and that have wider repertoires attract mates earlier and have greater reproductive success than others. Females appear to prefer mates with more complex songs, perhaps because this indicates greater experience or longevity. Having a complex song is also useful in defending a territory and deterring less experienced males from encroaching. Along with having adaptions of the skull and muscles for singing, male starlings also have a much larger syrinx than females. This is due to increased muscle mass and enlarged elements of the syringeal skeleton. The male starling’s syrinx is around 35% larger than its female counterpart. However, this sexual dimorphism is less pronounced than it is in songbird species like the zebra finch, where the male’s syrinx is 100% larger than the female’s syrinx. Singing also occurs outside the breeding season, taking place throughout the year apart from the moulting period. The songsters are more commonly male although females also sing on occasion. The function of such out-of-season song is poorly understood. Eleven other types of call have been described including a flock call, threat call, attack call, snarl call and copulation call. The alarm call is a harsh scream, and while foraging together common starlings squabble incessantly. They chatter while roosting and bathing, making a great deal of noise that can cause irritation to people living nearby. When a flock of common starlings is flying together, the synchronised movements of the birds’ wings make a distinctive whooshing sound that can be heard hundreds of metres away. Обыкнове́нный скворе́ц (лат. Sturnus vulgaris) — певчая птица семейства скворцовых, широко распространённая на значительной территории Евразии, а также успешно интродуцированная в Южную Африку, Северную Америку, Австралию и Новую Зеландию. На юге и западе Европы ведёт оседлый образ жизни, а в северной и восточной её части является перелётной, в зимние месяцы мигрируя на юг. Внешне (размерами, жёлтым клювом и темным оперением) слегка напоминает чёрных дроздов, но в отличие от них ходит по земле, а не прыгает. Скворец обладает широким диапазоном звуков, состоящих большей частью из различных вариаций свиста и щебечущих, пощёлкивающих трелей, а также скрипов, мяуканья, разнообразных немелодичных шумов и дребезжания. Практически все специалисты называют скворца превосходным птичьим «пересмешником», при этом его способности к подражанию пропорциональны степени социального взаимодействия и наиболее отчётливо представлены в крупных колониях. Скворец легко приспосабливается к пению других видов птиц, производя издаваемые ими звуки в произвольном порядке. Советские орнитологи Алексей Мальчевский и Юрий Пукинский, изучавшие скворца в Ленинграде и Ленинградской области, насчитали 23 вида, голоса которых он успешно имитировал; наиболее часто среди них оказывались белобровик, чечевица, иволга и большой пёстрый дятел. Георгий Дементьев и Николай Гладков в «Птицах Советского Союза» (1953) перечисляют другие виды, которым великолепно подражал скворец: соловей, кукушка, серая неясыть, краснохвостый сарыч, коршун, большой кроншнеп, черныш, чернозобик, серая цапля. Аналогичное свойство обыкновенного скворца отмечают и з