The starling may well be one of the first birds you see when visiting Holy Island. As you walk through the village, you can often hear their chattering from the rooftops - they whistle and buzz as they seem to be all talking to each other at once. Easy to identify by their black plumage with metallic sheen, they have fantastic little white 'stars' all over. Their stars are most striking in the winter, and gradually wear out during the year, so they end up almost plain black in the summer. The one below was seen in November and its stars are so bright its head is almost white. It also has a very black beak. This may be a continental bird, as they start arriving in the autumn.
