Bullies, conquistadors, plucky pioneers...they've been called
many things but these words do not describe the diminutive starling
perched quietly and alone on a neighboring rooftop. I'm amused to
learn that these little birds were first introduced to America in
the late eighteenth century as a flock of forty by a lone man obsessed
with Shakespeare and all his aviary mentions. Today, due to their
peculiar ability to adapt to human environments, there are millions.
Dotting branches, rooftops and telephone wires starlings gather in
enormous flocks, transforming ordinary landscapes into Hitchcockesque
scenes. Ever present yet still humble, they surround and follow us
with a steady pace that seems to say, "You are not alone in
this world and as you progress so shall we."
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