One of North America’s most successful and controversial biological invasions began with a small experiment in New York City’s Central Park. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS), the first recorded successful release of European starlings took place in 1890, when a member of the American Acclimatization Society introduced the birds into Central Park. Notably, over the following decades, the adaptable species spread across the continent and eventually reached an estimated population of around 150 million birds. Today, the European starling can be seen in nearly every corner of the continental United States, southern Canada and parts of Mexico, making the species both one of the most abundant and controversial invasive birds on the continent.
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