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ST. GEORGE — Beginning in New York City's Central Park, this enterprising bird took its mesmerizing sky display across the U.S., including southern Utah.
In 1890, New Yorker Eugene Schieffelin released 100 European starlings in Central Park, but the reason is still unclear, according to the Folger Shakespeare Library. A common story recalls a man on a mission to bring the birds of William Shakespeare's writing to the United States. Another suggests he just wanted to rid his garden of a troublesome insect infestation — a tale supported by his obituary.
"He was the first to import English sparrows into this country — his purpose being to exterminate the caterpillars which infested the trees in Madison Square where the Schieffelin home was," the obituary reads. "He imported and liberated many other species of birds, among them the starling."
Regardless of the reason, starlings flourished, growing to an estimated 250 million globally. They can be found in southern Utah year-round, said Russell Norvell, who serves as the avian conservation program coordinator with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. The birds are considered a nuisance species in Utah, and because they are nonnative, they can be killed without a permit or hunting license.
