Biology
4678993 / 5565753
Starling
Bird of the Year
In general, male and female starlings look very much alike. In spring, starlings assume their nuptial plumage, in autumn, after moulting, they wear their eclipse plumage.
The nuptial plumage of spring consists of black feathers that have a green, blue and violet metallic sheen. Females then have bright spots on the upper side of the feathers. Both sexes have a yellow bill with a light blue base for the males and a reddish one for the females.
Details of this plumage can be recognised especially clearly in this starling in the NABU Bird Protection Centre in Mössingen. It has a bill injury which is being treated here before it is released again.
The starling has a length of about 20 centimetres. It is between a parrow and a blackbird in size. It could be mistaken for a blackbird male at the most. But blackbirds have no shining plumage and, moreover, a longer tail.
Its almost triangular wings are rather short compared with birds of a similar size. As short-distance or medium-distance migrants, starlings do not have to cover long distances. Their wings are broad since they mostly inhabit the open countryside. Compared to them, blackbirds have longer and narrower wings with which they can fly better in the dense forest.
Starlings fly with rapid and strong wing beats. Gliding flight is used before landing.
- <> Languages: DE, EN
- <> Target Groups: GRU, Sek I
- <> Subject: Biology
- <> Length: 21:47 min
- View in learning platform
Licenses
Curriculum-centred and oriented towards educational standards
Matching
Ceramic
Ceramics are indispensable in our everyday lives. We eat from ceramic plates, drink from ceramic cups, use tiled ceramic bathrooms. But how is ceramic manufactured? The film reveals the secrets of this fascinating material! We get to know more about the beginnings of ceramic in the Old World of Egypt and Mesopotamia, about Greece, China and Rome. We gain interesting insights into the valuable earthenware and are also shown the exquisite further development of the "white gold". Today this versatile material is irreplaceable in industry, too. Whether in space or as an easily compatible substitute in medicine, ceramic is applied in many places.
Pupils Practise Inclusion
When people come together, no matter under what concomitant circumstances – ultimately, it is about how these people meet and how openly they interact with one another.
Youth Movement
Dancing until your feet hurt: Here, at the meeting on the Hoher Meissner near Kassel, 3,500 participants from Boy Scout associations, youth and Wandervogel groups from all over the German-speaking region have gathered. They want to celebrate, simply get to know each other and commemorate a historic anniversary.