100 European Starlings @ the Nomadic Studio
the story of an invasive species
MEET ME
My name is, Nikki Jarecki and I was born in the wild woods of Northern Wisconsin. My childhood was spent observing, planning, and discussing the natural world. In 2005, I earned my BFA in Painting from the University of Wisconsin at Stevens Point. After graduating I moved to Chicago, Illinois to earn my Masters of Art Education at DePaul University. I create embroidered images inspired by the excavation of experience and natural history. The natural world and the struggle for survival among plants and animals is an endless source of inspiration for my work.
My embroidery work is a solo endeavor. However, recently I have been working with the Stockyard Institute on the Nomadic Studio, which has allowed me to realize this communal project. The creative and pedagogical processes are not single-handed activities, but naturally inclusive events. I am embracing this occasion by bringing a collective of artists together under one roof to teach and learn from each other about the potential of a singular invasive species, the European Starling. I observe nature in the urban environment the same way I did in my rural environment. The observations lead to research which made me wonder how others perceive this common creature.
I named the project, 100 European Starlings as that is the number that Eugene Schieffelin collectively released in North America in the 19th century. This exhibition would not be possible without the interest and efforts of each individual who participates. The number of starlings received is not the point as much as the collection of minds coming together with a common purpose. Each person contributes their perspective of a European Starling based on research on the aesthetics, history, geography, and personal experience. I want this exhibition to mean something to more people than me. It’s about bringing people together and teaching them something about the natural world. When people are involved and valued, they have a tendency to care. I do. The artists that participate in this project are joining with a common purpose, to create a piece of representational artwork and learn about the importance of the Starling. This project is meant to be a starting point in an effort to merge science, natural history, and visual art. Hopefully, we will learn more about our own flock’s potential and others will take flight to create their own cross curricular classroom projects, lesson plans, field trips, and exhibitions.
MEET THE EUROPEAN STARLING
They are urban dwellers and live where people live as humanity provides everything they need to live safe and comfortable lives. They forage lawns, city streets, and agricultural fields for food including: bugs, berries, grains, seeds, nectar, and organic refuse. Nesting occurs in tree cavities and man made structures which are preferably up high away from human harm. The male starling chooses a nest site and uses his real estate to attract a mate. After his success the couple starts a family. The female will produce a clutch of 3-6 eggs that incubate in 12 days and both sexes participate in incubation. Their vocal abilities are varied and impressive. They have the incredible ability to mimic the songs of other birds and human words. The birds can often be found hopping around in zig zag patterns aggressively pecking at the ground like maniacs. Their gregarious nature makes it common to see flocks of 100,000. The enormous flocks devour crops, monopolize valuable nesting sites and spread disease with their droppings. They have forever changed the North American landscape and are considered an invasive species.
NATURAL HISTORY
Source: THE ANIMAL KINGDOM ARRANGED ACCORDING TO ITS ORGANIZATION Serving as a foundation for the NATURAL HISTORY OF ANIMALS and an Introduction to comparative Anatomy BY Baron Cuvier, Vol. 1. Mammalia-Birds, London, 1834.
“S.vulgaris, L.; Enl. 75; Naum. 62. (The Common Starling). Black, with violet and green reflections, every where spotted with white or fawn colour. The young male is of a brown grey. It is found in great numbers throughout the whole of the eastern continent, feeds on insects, and is of use to cattle by relieving them from their attacks. It flies in large and crowded flocks, is easily tamed, and may be taught to sing and even speak. It leaves France in winter. Its flesh is disagreeable. We can find no sufficient character to enable us to distinguish from the Conirostres, with certainty and precisiion, the different genera of the family of the Crows, all of which have a similar internal structure and external organs, only differing in a (generally) greater size, which sometimes enables them to hunt small birds: their strong bill is most commonly compressed on the sides. These genera are three in number, the Crows, Birds of Paradise, and the Rollers.”
In 1890 and 1891 a member of the American Acclimation Society, Eugene Schieffelin introduced 100 European Starlings to North America. Some had been released prior to Schieffelin however, a stable population was not established until his contribution. Today there are about 200,000,000 European Starlings in North America, ranging from Alaska to Mexico. In the 19th century it was popular to introduce animals and plants to other lands as they thought it was a positive for both a food source and to control pests. Today we know otherwise and there is a highly charged effort to eradicate invasive species. Scientific research has found that there is only one species, the
Below: range of the European Starling.
Harmful or Beneficial: a Scientific Perspective
European Starlings and Their Effect on Native Cavity-Nesting Birds
WALTER D. KOENIG
“Thus, despite their aggressiveness and high abundance, and contrary to the fears of many North American ornithologists, European Starlings have yet to unambiguously and significantly threaten any species of North American cavity-nesting bird, with the possible exception of sapsuckers.” From: Conservation Biology Volume 17, No. 4, August 2003
Quotes from the biologist, Bud Anderson with the Falcon Research Group.
“We’re looking at 30 pairs of peregrines and in virtually all those nests we see starlings as one of the main prey items.” He says, “starlings are helping bring back peregrines.”
“Regardless of how we feel about starlings, they are very good at living in the environments we make,” says Wesley Hochachka of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology in Ithaca, NY. “They like us.”
Invasive Birds to North America:
crested myna, common myna, rosy-faced lovebird, mandarin duck, chukar, egyptian geese, white-fronted parrot, orange-winged amazon, yellow-naped amazon, red-lored parrot, mealy parrot, lilac-crowned parrot, yellow-crowned parrot, yellow-headed parrot, hispaniolan parrot, red-crowned parrot, falcated teal, hottentot teal, mallard, greylang goose, swan goose, blue-and-yellow macaw, chestnut-fronted macaw, blue-crowned parakeet, orange-fronted parakeet, red-masked parakeet, crimson-fronted parakeet, green parakeet, white-eyed parakeet, mitred parakeet, scarlet-fronted parakeet, dusky-headed parakeet, golden crowned crane, yellow-chevroned parakeet, white-winged parakeet, great black hawk, muscovy duck, ringed teal, black-throated magpie-jay, house finch, wooly-necked stork, rock dove, house crow, black swan, trumpeter swan, whooper swan, mute swan, white-faced whistling-duck, orange-cheeked waxbill, scarlet ibis, yellow-crowned bishop, orange bishop, diamond dove, hill myna, spot-breasted oriole, glossy starling, tricolored munia, nutmeg mannikin, budgerigar, monk parakeet, black-hooded parakeet, spotted nothura, helmeted guineafowl, cockatiel, red-winged starling, red-crested cardinal, red-capped cardinal, house sparrow, indian peafowl, common pheasant, yellow grosbeak, lesser flamingo, greater flamingo, purple swamphen, palm cockatoo, rose-ringed parakeet, red-whiskered bulbul, green-cheeked parakeet, yellow-fronted canary, rurasian collared-dove, african collared dove, european turtle dove, european starling, elliot’s pheasant, common shelduck, paradise shelduck, zebra finch, knysna turaco, sacred ibis, pin-tailed whydah, white-winged dove.
Source: http://www.invasive.org/species/birds.cfm
