Echo
Terrestrial Terror Final Four: European starling vs. beech scale
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By Alice Rossignol and Rachael Gleason
Editor’s note: Great Lakes SmackDown! Terrestrial Terror is an ongoing Great Lakes Echo series. On the other side of the bracket and competing for a shot at the championship are the European starling and the beech scale. The starling has proven its prowess with skills like spreading fecal matter, posing as an air safety threat and competing with other cavity-nesting birds. But can it compete with the beech scale whose side-sick fungal friend helps it kill beech trees?