Nay, I'll Have A Starling, Proposal

News: The overall project has been moved to: www.starlingmigration.info

In 1890, Eugene Schieffelin and the Acclimation Society of North America decided to bring all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare’s plays to the USA from Britain. Among them were 60 European Starlings (Sturnus vulgaris), because Shakespeare had mentioned them in Henry IV: “Nay, I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak nothing but Mortimer’…” (Part I, Act 1, Scene 3).

The birds were released in New York City's Central Park, and their first nest was found on the roof of the American Museum of Natural History.

Since then, the European Starling has spread very successfully in North America, and today we count over 200 million. Note that there are only 300 million starlings worldwide, and in Europe their population is on the decline.

Many regard the European Starlings as pests for destroying crops and stealing native species' nesting cavities. They are colonial breeders that are considered aggressive and noisy--an invasive species.

I decided to capture 60 Starlings in Central Park, send them back to England, and release them in Buckingham Palace Park. .

---