From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishstarlingstar‧ling /ˈstɑːlɪŋ $ ˈstɑːr-/ noun [countable] HBBa common bird with shiny black feathers that lives especially in cities
Examples from the Corpus
starling• This has been demonstrated by experiments with captive starlings, using the technique of displacing the sun's image with mirrors.• Rapid clouds of starlings flew over the seven bridges.• She stood back up; the quotes fluttered with her motion, a flock of starlings.• They wish some of the arches of the bridge to be widened, the starlings to be replaced.• The starlings gather, the noise increases in volume then - suddenly - whoosh!• The starlings have gone to nest in the hot-air ducts of a concrete and glass mountain in the city centre.Origin starling Old English stærlinc, from stær “starling” + -linc “-ling” 