Maarten Terwal took this series of amazing photos of a growing family of starlings in Launceston, Tasmania.
Luckily in Perth we never see this introduced species. I had my first really good look at starlings on a recent trip along the Great Ocean Road in Victoria where they appeared in huge flocks along the coastal cliffs.
I also came across them all over Europe, and one memory of the otherwise beautiful Mont Saint Michel was the smell of starling droppings.
Western Australia is doing its best to keep starlings out of the state, but they have already infested some areas of the south coast, around Esperence. The WA Department of Agriculture and Food describes them on the starling watch website:
"Starlings are an extreme threat to Western Australian agriculture, environment and community. They are listed as one of the world's worst invasive alien species. "
Birds Australia is doing its bit to help, with groups of local volunteers.
