European Starling vs Brown-headed Cowbird
The check that settles it
Shorter conical bill, brown head on the male, and no spotting.
European Starling
Sturnus vulgaris
- Size
- 20–23 cm
- Bill
- thin pointed
- Where
- city, open field, feeder, yard
- Voice
- A jumble of whistles, rattles and clicks, with accurate imitations of other species and of mechanical sounds.
Brown-headed Cowbird
Molothrus ater
- Size
- 16–22 cm
- Bill
- conical
- Where
- feeder, open field, yard
- Voice
- A liquid, bubbling 'glug-glug-gleee' followed by thin high whistles.
Confirming a european starling
- A very short square tail with a long pointed bill — the shape is diagnostic in flight.
- White spotting in winter, glossy and nearly plain in summer.
- Bill turns bright yellow in the breeding season.
- Walks rather than hops.
Confirming a brown-headed cowbird
- A short, thick, conical bill — finch-like, not the long pointed bill of a blackbird.
- Male: black body with a chocolate-brown head, which can look black in poor light.
- Female: uniformly plain grey-brown, no pattern, faint streaking below.
- Tail is short relative to other blackbirds.