When I first took up birdwatching, any mention I heard, any reference I read, any non-verbal cue I perceived regarding the European Starling (Sturnus vulgaris) – at least when in regard to their existence in North America – was universally negative. “Trash birds!” was a common epithet. “Ought to be exterminated” and “invasive” were two other frequently heard or read comments. No one ever had a good word to say about these highly vocal, seemingly numerous, feisty, black, sometimes iridescent, sometimes bespeckled little birds. Some birdwatchers – more the point, birders – I knew seemed reluctant even to note them down in their lists, as if the simple act of doing so would somehow taint all the other birds included.