Bird experts are ringing alarm bells over the decline of one of the country's most recognizable birds which in Surrey has dropped in number by nearly 60% in the last 20 years.
The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is stepping up action to help starlings.
The charity has said figures show the once common farmland bird's numbers are plummeting.
The cause said statistics have shown that 40 million starlings have disappeared from the European Union, including the UK, since 1980.
In Surrey, it said, starlings have declined by 58% over the past two decades.
The crash in numbers is triggering concern about the starling's future status as a widespread and familiar bird.
The RSPB said the starling has recorded the greatest loss of any European farmland bird.
Last month, the cause flagged up its fears for the future of arguably Surrey's rarest bird, the Dartford Warbler, spotted by excited bird-watchers on Reigate Heath, but now believed to be down to as few as 50 pairs across areas of Berkshire, Hampshire, Surrey and Sussex.
The Rare Breeding Birds Panel (RBBP) said in its latest report that the heathland bird “has suffered a dramatic population decline at some of its most important breeding sites in South-east England.”
In recent years, experts have warned that its numbers have plummeted because of severe winters, and potentially in the summer of 2010, a spate of heathland fires on Reigate Heath.
The RSPB fears the starling could be going the same way.
In 2002, the starling was added to the UK ‘red list’ of the Birds of Conservation Concern, because its population had halved during the previous three decades.
Each winter, birds arriving from continental Europe boost the UK’s starling numbers, but there is evidence of a decline in the number of starlings visiting the UK in winter, and this could be linked to the decline elsewhere in Europe.
The RSPB’s Dr Richard Gregory, who heads up the Society’s bird monitoring section, said: “The starling is still a plentiful bird, but its numbers are falling alarmingly.”
Starling numbers recorded in the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch have fallen by 80% since 1979 across the UK.
In Surrey, they were the fourth most recorded bird in the county this year, with less than two birds seen per garden on average.
Dr Gregory added: “Our records show that we have lost more starlings across Europe than any other farmland bird.
“Forty million starlings lost represents over 150 for every hour since the 1980s. This loss should be a wake-up call, because we ignore the decline of nature at our own peril.”
Dr Will Peach, who is leading the research into the starling decline in the UK, said: “It is figures like these which have convinced us of the need for action, which is why we are launching a research programme to unravel the mystery of this bird’s disappearance.”
Several theories have been put forward to explain the starling’s decline.
In parts of Europe, suggestions include the loss of grassland through conversion to forestry land and the growing of crops.
But these changes haven’t affected the UK in the same way, so the reasons for the rapid contraction in the UK are not understood.
Working in Somerset and Gloucestershire, RSPB researchers will be working with farmers to examine whether there is sufficient food and nesting sites for starlings in livestock areas.
The loss of farmland birds from the UK and Europe is a major conservation concern.
To stem and reverse these declines, the RSPB carries out scientific research to establish the reasons why farmland birds are declining, and then its scientists try to find ways that farmers can help by providing the measures that birds need to survive.
Negotiations are currently under way to reform the Common Agricultural Policy, which guides the future of Europe's farming, with the RSPB and its European partners seeking a better result for wildlife from the talks.
Fay Pattinson, agricultural projects officer for RSPB South East, said, “The loss of farmland birds is yet another example of Europe’s wildlife paying a high price for unsustainable farming policies.
“We know that many farmers would like to help farmland wildlife and we would like to see an increase in the amount of money that’s available to those farmers to help them protect our UK wildlife.”
Website:  www.rspb.org.uk