Eugene Schieffelin
Encyclopedia
Eugene Schieffelin belonged to the New York Genealogical and Biographical Society and the New York Zoological Society. He was responsible for introducing the starling
(Sturnus vulgaris) to North America
.
. He did the same with another 60 birds in 1891. Schieffelin wanted to introduce all the birds mentioned in the plays of William Shakespeare
to North America. He may have also been trying to control the same pests that had been annoying him thirty years earlier, when he sponsored the introduction of the House Sparrow
to North America.
European Starlings were not native to North America
. Schieffelin imported the starlings from England
. Scientists estimate that descendants from those two original released flocks now number at more than 200 million residing in the United States.
The starlings' wildly successful spread has come at the expense of many native birds that compete with the starling
for nest holes in trees.
His attempts to introduce bullfinch
es, chaffinch
es, nightingale
s, and skylark
s were not successful.
, a group that aimed to help exchange plants and animals from one part of the world to another. In the 19th century, such acclimatization societies were fashionable and supported by the scientific knowledge and beliefs of that era, as the effect that non-native species could have on the local ecosystem was not yet known.
European starlings are now considered an invasive species
in the USA.
European Starling
The Common Starling , also known as the European Starling or just Starling, is a passerine bird in the family Sturnidae.This species of starling is native to most of temperate Europe and western Asia...
(Sturnus vulgaris) to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
.
Starling release
In 1890, he released 60 starlings into New York City’s Central ParkCentral Park
Central Park is a public park in the center of Manhattan in New York City, United States. The park initially opened in 1857, on of city-owned land. In 1858, Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a design competition to improve and expand the park with a plan they entitled the Greensward Plan...
. He did the same with another 60 birds in 1891. Schieffelin wanted to introduce all the birds mentioned in the plays of William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare
William Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
to North America. He may have also been trying to control the same pests that had been annoying him thirty years earlier, when he sponsored the introduction of the House Sparrow
House Sparrow
The House Sparrow is a bird of the sparrow family Passeridae, found in most parts of the world. One of about 25 species in the genus Passer, the House Sparrow occurs naturally in most of Europe, the Mediterranean region, and much of Asia...
to North America.
European Starlings were not native to North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
. Schieffelin imported the starlings from England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
. Scientists estimate that descendants from those two original released flocks now number at more than 200 million residing in the United States.
The starlings' wildly successful spread has come at the expense of many native birds that compete with the starling
Starling
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The name "Sturnidae" comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called mynas, and many African species are known as glossy starlings because of their iridescent...
for nest holes in trees.
His attempts to introduce bullfinch
Bullfinch
* A Bullfinch is one of two groups of passerine birdsBullfinch can also refer to:* Bullfinch , an obstacle seen on the cross-country course in the sport of eventing* USS Bullfinch, the name of two US Navy ships...
es, chaffinch
Chaffinch
The Chaffinch , also called by a wide variety of other names, is a small passerine bird in the finch family Fringillidae.- Description :...
es, nightingale
Nightingale
The Nightingale , also known as Rufous and Common Nightingale, is a small passerine bird that was formerly classed as a member of the thrush family Turdidae, but is now more generally considered to be an Old World flycatcher, Muscicapidae...
s, and skylark
Skylark
The Skylark is a small passerine bird species. This lark breeds across most of Europe and Asia and in the mountains of north Africa. It is mainly resident in the west of its range, but eastern populations are more migratory, moving further south in winter. Even in the milder west of its range,...
s were not successful.
Reasons for release
Schieffelin belonged to the American Acclimatization SocietyAmerican Acclimatization Society
The American Acclimatization Society was a group founded in New York City in 1871 dedicated to introducing European flora and fauna into North America for both economic and cultural reasons...
, a group that aimed to help exchange plants and animals from one part of the world to another. In the 19th century, such acclimatization societies were fashionable and supported by the scientific knowledge and beliefs of that era, as the effect that non-native species could have on the local ecosystem was not yet known.
European starlings are now considered an invasive species
Invasive species
"Invasive species", or invasive exotics, is a nomenclature term and categorization phrase used for flora and fauna, and for specific restoration-preservation processes in native habitats, with several definitions....
in the USA.
External links
- Park and the People, A History of Central Park By Roy Rosenzweig, Elizabeth Blackmar (See hyperlinks referring to Schieffelin on page 1 of the book.)
- New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, Edenwald Playground
- GreenMuseum.org, “I'll Have a Starling” installation
- Tennessee State Department of Environment and Conservation, Origins of the European Starling in the United States, By David Ian Withers
- Stanford University, Birds of Stanford - Essays, Avian Invaders, by Paul R. Ehrlich, David S. Dobkin, and Darryl Wheye
- Newsday.com, Starlings in Flight Not Bard's Delight, By Julie Claire Diop, June 8, 2003