European Starlings have a significant impact on their environment because they congregate in such large numbers. They probably play a role in seed dispersal because of their consumption of a wide variety of fruits. European Starlings also control some insect populations, but since they will eat almost anything they cannot be relied upon to eat only pests. Insects they are known to feed on include the larvae of craneflies (Tipulidae) and moths (Lepidoptera) as well as mayflies (Ephemeroptera), dragonflies and damsel flies (Odonata), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), earwigs (Dermaptera), lacewings (Neuroptera), caddis flies (Trichoptera), flies (Diptera), sawflies, ants, bees and wasps (Hymenoptera) and beetles (Coleoptera). They will also eat small vertebrates such as lizards and frogs, as well as snails (Gastropoda) and earthworms (Annelida). European Starlings have a particular technique of inserting their closed bill into the ground or an object and then prying the bill open, creating a small hole. This allows them to forage efficiently in soil and among roots as well as in feed troughs and on the backs of ungulates where they search for ectoparisites.
