lovely little article on starlings

[dale]

http://evanstonroundtable.com/main.asp?SectionID=20&SubSectionID=29&ArticleID=4655

[Patti from Kentucky]

That was a nice article...I learned something new (well, a couple of things, including that Mozart had a pet starling that might have helped him compose).  The main thing -- I didn't realize that the starling's winter/summer plumage differences were the result of feather wear; I had assumed they molted twice a year.

[dale]

I hadn't known that about the white wearing off, either. I do have to say, however, that as a longtime admirer of abominations and mixed metaphors, I was most impressed by the starling that “whistled the first line of ‘Dixie,’ frequently interjecting lines from ‘The Star-Spangled Banner.'� Clearly the bird was a sharp-witted cultural critic.