Posted on 09/07/2009 6:00:37 AM PDT by JoeProBono
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- The next time the sky darkens with a flock of noisy unwelcome starlings, blame Shakespeare - or, better yet, a few of his strangest fans.
Had the Bard not mentioned the starling in the third scene of "Henry IV," arguably the most hated bird in North America might never have arrived. In the early 1890s, about 100 European starlings were released in New York City's Central Park by a group dedicated to bringing to America every bird ever mentioned by Shakespeare.
Today, it's more like Hitchcock.
(Excerpt) Read more at hosted.ap.org ...
They’re starting to flock here in Michigan. I had several hundred out in the yard this morning.
Some starlings made a nest inside the metal cladding around the eaves of my house. At a corner, they would insert their bills into the small opening to pull down the thin metal to enter. The metal would then snap back in to place. I had to see it happen to figure out what was that noise I would hear outside. I taped shut that opening.
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