starling

From Middle English starling, sterling, sterlinge, from Old English stærling, from stær (“starling”) + -ling (diminutive suffix). Cognate with Middle Dutch sterlinck (“starling”).

A fish, rock trout (Hexagrammos spp.), of the North Pacific, especially, Hexagrammos decagrammus, found in US waters.


stare

From Middle English star, ster, from Old English stær (“starling”), from Proto-Germanic *starô (“starling”), from Proto-Indo-European *stor- (“starling”).
Cognate with German Star (“starling”), Danish stær (“starling”), Swedish stare (“starling”), Norwegian Nynorsk stare (“starling”), Icelandic stari (“starling”). Compare also Old English stearn (“a type of bird, starling”).

cog

The Stares be bigger than thoſe in England, as blacke as Crovves, being the most troubleſome, and injurious bird of all others, pulling up the cornes by the roots, vvhen it is young, […]

1634, William Wood, “Of the Birds and Fowles both of Land and Water”, in New Englands Prospect. A True, Lively, and Experimentall Description of that Part of America, Commonly Called New England; […], London: […] Tho[mas] Cotes, for Iohn Bellamie, […], →OCLC, 1st part, page 29:


myna

Borrowed from Hindi मैना (mainā)/Urdu مینا (mainā), from Sanskrit मदन (madana).

One of the South and East Asian birds of the starling family Sturnidae.

maina

genera Acridotheres, Gracula, Ampeliceps, Mino, Enodes, Leucopsar


grackle

From translingual Gracula, from Latin graculus (“jackdaw”).

Outside, a gang of grackles combed the landscaped lawn like a homicide squad dragging a field for evidence.

1995, Richard Powers, Galatea 2.2, Vintage (2019), page 164:

Any of several American blackbirds of the genus Quiscalus, and related genera, having iridescent plumage.


bluebird

Any of various North American birds of the genus Sialia in the thrush family. Their plumage is blue or blue and red.


murmuration

en-noun

murmuration (countable and uncountable, plural murmurations)

/ˌmɝməˈɹeɪʃən/

/ˌmɜːməˈɹeɪʃən/

1350–1400; Medieval Latin murmuratio (“murmuring, grumbling”). The “flock of starlings” sense is probably derived from the sound of the very large groups that starlings form at dusk.

bor

"Oh! I wasted most of my morning crawling to a murmuration of starlings, which I foolishly mistook for congregation of plover."

1893 September 27, The Bazaar, the Exchange and Mart, London, page 800, column 3:

The same dynamics can be seen in starlings: On clear winter evenings, murmurations of the tiny blackish birds gather in Rome’s sunset skies, wheeling about like rustling cloth.

2013 March 19, Ed Yong, “How the Science of Swarms Can Help Us Fight Cancer and Predict the Future”, in Wired:

Professor Anne Goodenough, an applied ecologist at the University of Gloucestershire who led the research, said: ‘It appears murmuration has become the norm – a general way for the starlings to stay safe from predators.’

2017 July 29, “Solved, the riddle of starlings' aerial ballet: Birds use acrobatics to ward off creatures of prey”, in Daily Mail:

(ornithology, collective) A flock of starlings.

An emergent order in a multi-agent social system.


sturnid

(zoology) Any Any bird in the family Sturnidae; a mynah or starling


coleto

A starling of species Sarcops calvus, endemic to the Philippines.


rose-coloured pastor

en-noun

rose-coloured pastor (plural rose-coloured pastors)


rosy starling

LL-Q1860 (eng)-Flame, not lame-rosy starling.wav

Pastor roseus
Pastor roseus#Translingual

Pastor roseus, a passerine bird in the starling family Sturnidae, of much of Eurasia.


Indian myna

Acridotheres tristis, an omnivorous open woodland bird of the family Sturnidae with a strong territorial instinct that has adapted extremely well to urban environments.


European starling

European starling (plural European starlings)

Sturnus vulgaris
Sturnus vulgaris#Translingual


common starling

common starling (plural common starlings)

Calque of translingual Sturnus vulgaris, via common + starling.


rhabdornis

Any of the small passerine birds of the genus Rhabdornis, endemic to the Philippines.


spotless starling

spotless starling (plural spotless starlings)

Sturnus unicolor
Sturnus unicolor#Translingual

Sturnus unicolor, a passerine bird in the starling family Sturnidae.


Javan myna

The ubiquitous Javan myna birds of Singapore first arrived as pets from Indonesia around 1925, sought after at the time as virtuoso impersonators.

2018, Menno Schilthuizen, “Darwin comes to town”, in The Guardian:

A species of myna, Acridotheres javanicus, found across Asia.


common hill myna

common hill myna (plural common hill mynas)

Gracula religiosa
Gracula religiosa#Translingual

Gracula religiosa, a starling native to Asia, commonly used in aviculture

tó wónaanídę́ę́ʼ chʼagii yáłtiʼí ntsaaígíí


Bali myna

Leucopsar rothschildi, a medium-sized, stocky bird that is almost entirely white, and native to the island of Bali and its offshore islands in Indonesia.


Sri Lanka hill myna

Sri Lanka hill myna (plural Sri Lanka hill mynas)


white-necked myna

white-necked myna (plural white-necked mynas)

white + necked + myna, a partial calque of translingual Streptocitta albicollis, from Latin albicollis (“white-necked”).

partial calque

Streptocitta albicollis, a common species of myna often confused for a magpie due to its coloration, endemic to Indonesia.