 Common starlings in the south and west of Europe and south of latitude <unk> are mainly resident , although other populations migrate from regions where the winter is harsh , the ground frozen and food scarce . Large numbers of birds from northern Europe , Russia and Ukraine migrate south <unk> or south eastwards . In the autumn , when immigrants are arriving from eastern Europe , many of Britain 's common starlings are setting off for Iberia and North Africa . Other groups of birds are in passage across the country and the pathways of these different streams of bird may cross . Of the 15 @,@ 000 birds ringed as nestlings in Merseyside , England , individuals have been recovered at various times of year as far afield as Norway , Sweden , Finland , Russia , Ukraine , Poland , Germany and the Low Countries . Small numbers of common starling have sporadically been observed in Japan and Hong Kong but it is unclear from where these birds originated . In North America , northern populations have developed a migration pattern , <unk> much of Canada in winter . Birds in the east of the country move southwards , and those from further west winter in the southwest of the US . 
