“THE starling is probably not most people’s favourite bird.” So opined the nation’s pre-eminent twitcher, Bill Oddie. It’s true: the reputation of starlings is not equal to those of the owl, the wren, the swallow, and the swan, all subjects of biographies by Stephen Moss, who turns his hand to the less popular bird. Moss quotes one critic: “It’s hard to find anyone with a kind word to say for starlings. Even Francis of Assisi, if he ever tangled with them, might have been tempted to whittle himself a slingshot.”

In fact, there is some evidence of affection for them: their name is an affectionate diminutive. The “adorable” suffix “-ling” added to the Old English original name “stare”, itself perhaps a corruption of the Latin sturnus. They were also known as “the poor man’s dog”, owing to their ability to pick up tricks. Even recently, they have had success in this regard: a starling who can whistle the tune to the Addams Family has more than 150,000 followers on TikTok.

Some of the old animosity remains, though. Moss recounts the verdict of an English traveller in the 1980s on starling pâté: “I still recall the flavour, for which a taste must only be acquired after many years of subjecting the palate to torture.”

Yet, as I finished reading this wonderful book, I found myself more convinced than ever that the starling is a favourite bird — not least because it mirrors something of us: fallen, certainly, but capable of glimpses of a prelapsarian state. Not long after, I had cause to recite the Benedicite: “O all ye Fowls of the Air, bless ye the Lord : praise him, and magnify him for ever.” This book made me certain that, despite their cacophonous cries, it is a song with which even the starling will join.

The Revd Fergus Butler Gallie is the Vicar of Charlbury with Shorthampton, in the diocese of Oxford.

The Starling: A biography
Stephen Moss
Square Peg £14.99
(978-1-5299-0828-2)
Church Times Bookshop £13.49