>I seem to recall that someone was interested in starling roosts in Seattle?
>On Wednesday, at 6pm, I saw thousands of starlings coming in to land on one or
>more buildings in Pioneer Square. The locality is on the south side of Yesler
>St., just across the street from Trattoria Michele.
>Clark Blake, Dept. of geology, WWU, Bellingham,WA 98225

I suppose these may be the starlings I see flying south along I-5 early
every morning as I commute to Tacoma. There are thousands south of the
city, through the Boeing Field area, then they diminish, although there are
often thousands more north of Southcenter, probably from another roost. I
never see any flying E, W, or N! I think starlings and other birds use
interstates as routes quite often, either in migration or on daily
commuting or both.

I guess most Tweeters know that starlings are commuters, just like many of
us, except they're going from roost to foraging and back (like spending
your day at a restaurant). Every day they fly--sometimes long
distances--between roost sites and feeding areas, the flocks splitting as
they move out into the countryside (thank goodness 20,000 don't descend on
the same feed lot or farm field) and coalescing again in the afternoon as
they return to their roosts. It would indeed be worthwhile to pinpoint and
census all of the big starling roosts in our area. I'm sorry they're so
common, but their mass flights along I-5 certainly are thrilling to watch
every day!


Dennis Paulson phone: (206) 756-3798
Slater Museum of Natural History fax: (206) 756-3352
University of Puget Sound email: dpaulson at ups.edu
Tacoma, WA 98416