Little Starlings

I was in a gift shop on NYC's Upper Westside when I came across the greeting card pictured atop this blog post. Upon seeing it I immediately thought of the European starlings who visit my rooftop garden, and I especially recalled a fairly new born one (who can be seen in the following pictures).

According to the web-page, Starling Talk, Baby starlings "cannot fly when they first leave the nest, or fledge. If they are fully feathered they need to be on the ground for a few days to learn. Their parents are still taking care of them and teaching them how to fly."
 Therefore, I'm not sure how he/she got to a container housing one of my trees or made it to the railing that surrounds my rooftop garden. But I'm sure his/her parents were close by and this young one seemed too, as evidenced by his/her intent gaze and open beak.

As you may recall, dear reader, I've published entries here on Blogger re the beaks of young starlings being useful in helping their parents know the exact spot for dropping food into the beak. One such entry may be referenced by clicking here, for in that particular post, I inform readers of the fact that "Many baby birds gape, opening their mouths as wide as they can. Bright colors or even spots inside the mouth tell the parents where to put the food. Young starlings have bright yellow inside their mouths, a very wide gape and a loud, persistent call..." 

The aforementioned entry includes a play-by-play image series of this phenomenon, and the following images feature aspects of this miracle of nature, albeit from a different time period than that of the specific blog post which I've been referring to.

On another occasion, it seemed some sibling rivalry was going on (see image below) in relation to young starlings opening their beaks, in hopes of being fed.

I am well aware that many folks don't appreciate this bird type! But I certainly do! Seeing the tender relationship which they have with each other, causes me to think that the next time they have newborns, I should send them the card I saw in the gift shop on Manhattan's UWS!