![](https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EUST_winter_plumage_wiki.jpg)
12 January 2023
I know it’s only 12 January but a starling told me on Tuesday that spring is coming soon. I could see it in his beak.
Most of the birds that spend the winter in Pittsburgh wear the same colors all year long. Blue jays, chickadees and red-tailed hawks don’t change their look from winter to spring. European starlings (Sturnus vulgaris) do make a change but it’s subtle.
In winter they live up to their name with “starry” spotted feathers, dull dark pink legs, and gray-black beaks. When spring comes their spots wear off, their legs become brighter red and their beaks turn yellow.
Last Tuesday I saw a starling whose beak was turning yellow, though still black-tipped like the one pictured below.
![](https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EUST_halfway_to_spring_plumage_wiki.jpg)
His ultimate goal is this glossy crisp appearance.
![](https://www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/EUST_breeding-plumage-2-mailes-1-female-wiki.jpg)
Starling beaks usually start changing in February. Is spring coming sooner than usual or is that starling ahead of the game?
(photos from Wikimedia Commons; click on the captions to see the originals)
The cardinals in my backyard are getting redder!
I think spring is coming sooner than most think, I too pay attention to nature. I seen a group starlings up in my oak tree where they make their nests every year, this happens every year when spring is close within 2-4 weeks. Not only that our big trees are Budding, this doesn’t usually accure until spring is about 4 weeks away. I live in indiana which has a crazy weather system in itself, we can have a 50 degree December day and the next day it’s below 0. But from the signs I’m seeing I think by March first we will be seeing warmer than usual weather. I never watch the news or the weather station, so determining when spring is here or winter I solely base it off of nature.