luck's Favourites

First, I heard the insistent calling of the young Starling. When I looked out the window, I saw the adult coming to feed it.

European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) Introduced/naturalized/INVASIVE. Starlings are responsible for the decline of many native species of birds including bluebirds, swallows, woodpeckers, and purple martins on the Monterey Peninsula and in Carmel Valley. It is common and widespread.

Monterey Birds, Don Roberson, 2nd ed. 2002, sponsored by Monterey Peninsula Audubon Society, p. 380.

European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) "is known simply as the Starling in Great Britain and Ireland. It is a medium-sized passerine bird in the Starling family, Sturnidae. It is about 20 cm (8 inces) long and has glossy black plumage with a metallic sheen, which is speckled with white at some times of year. The legs are pink and the bill is black in winter and yellow in summer; young birds have browner plumage than the adults. It is a noisy bird, especially in communal roosts and other gregarious situations, with an unmusical but varied song. Its gift for mimicry has been noted in literature including the works of Pliny the Elder and William Shakespeare." https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/14850-Sturnus-vulgaris

The Cornell Lab (Birds in U.S. and Canada) https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/European_Starling/

Audubon Guide to North American Birds https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/european-starling

Ebird with species description, range map and sound recordings: https://ebird.org/species/eursta/

Xeno-canto Bird songs, sound recordings, and species range map: https://xeno-canto.org/species/Sturnus-vulgaris

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 7th ed., 2017

National Geographic Field Guide to the Birds of Western North America, ed. Jon L. Dunn, 2008

Merlin Bird ID (great app available for mobile devices) by The Cornell Lab (Bird ID help for 8,500+ species) https://merlin.allaboutbirds.org/

Comprehensive Feather I.D. tools and more: https://foundfeathers.org/resources/

Found Feathers (Worldwide): https://www.fws.gov/lab/featheratlas/idtool.php

Distinguishing feature is that tepals twist over the ovaries as they wither. At least 250 plants in several patches on this ‘beach access’ grassy coastal bluff, growing in pockets of soil in the rocks. Most flower stems 200 cm.