'The Shakespeare Enthusiast Who Introduced An Invasive Species,' a story I tell my students

I started watching Invasive Species Reshaping Our World | Human Footprint | Full Episode | PBS, which inspired me to search for videos about the introduction of European Starlings. The result I most enjoyed was The Shakespeare Enthusiast Who Introduced An Invasive Species by Saranna Rotgard.

The European Starling is an invasive species with a history of causing problems. According to lore, Eugene Schieffelin, Chair of the American Acclimatization Society, brought Starlings to America because of his love for Shakespeare and all the birds mentioned in Shakespeare's works. It's a lovely story, but reality, and some fact-checking, tell us there may be a bit more to it.

"I'll have a starling shall be taught to speak
Nothing but 'Mortimer,' and give it him
To keep his anger still in motion"

Did this one mention of the European Starling in Shakespeare's Henry IV lead to one of America's most problematic invasive species? Even the most authoritative sources say it did, but some research reveals an ongoing - and so far unresolved - debate.

I'm being a good environmentalist by recycling the comment I left on the video.

I tell this story to my biology and environmental science students to begin my lecture on invasive species and linking it to Schieffelin's reputed love of Shakespeare makes a great hook. It's also the story that opens the episode of PBS's "Human Footprint" about invasive species, so I'm not alone. It even shows up in Netflix's "Ozark," just to give an idea of its cultural significance. While I've been familiar with the story, having read it in Reader's Digest more than 50 years ago, you managed to add details to it I hadn't heard, so, thank you, I learned something from you. It's always a good day when I learn something new.

I just lectured on this subject two weeks ago in environmental science, but will lecture on it to my biology students next month. I might show this video to them then. If I do, this will become another instance of blogging as professional development.