Bird on the Street

Starlings cause a lot of trouble. Labeled one of the world’s worst invasive bird species, they devastate farms, drive out native birds, and interfere with aircraft. Many birdwatchers openly despise starlings, or more politely, look down on them. Yet all the things that lead us to see starlings as pests are also signs of their extraordinary adaptability. Among the most successful birds on the planet, they are easy to overlook—and too easy to blame.

Blending natural history with science memoir, Bird on the Street traces how starlings illuminate the mechanisms of evolution and the relationship between humans and wildlife. Following starlings from the streets and skies into museums and laboratories, Julia M. Zichello invites readers into the daily practice of science: the small discoveries and frequent setbacks, moments of doubt as well as wonder. If we set aside our hostility and see starlings for what they are, Zichello argues, we gain new insight into not only evolution and ecology but also ourselves. Humans introduced starlings to new continents and then relentlessly transformed landscapes into ones perfectly suited to their success. Ultimately, this invasive species offers a mirror reflecting the human tendency to reshape the natural world.

At once scientifically rigorous and deeply personal, this book shows how the story of a familiar bird leads to a richer understanding of our ecological and emotional entanglements with nature.

Julia M. Zichello is an evolutionary biologist and science writer. She teaches at Hunter College, City University of New York, and is a research associate at the American Museum of Natural History. Her writing has appeared in the New York Times, Scientific American, and Connecticut Audubon.