In South Africa, there are an astonishing 15 species! Most of them are beautifully iridescent and glossy in coloration and others lack the glossy-ness but make up for it in strange looks.
Genus Cinnyricinclus: Starling, Violet-backed also Amethyst Starling - Cinnyricinclus leucogaster
Male
(c) Lisbeth Female
(c) Lisbeth
Genus Creatophora: Starling, Wattled - Creatophora cinerea
Last edited by Lisbeth on Mon Apr 01, 2013 3:32 pm, edited 1 time in total.
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
Family: Sturnidae (Starlings, Mynas and Oxpeckers)
The family Sturnidae, recognized here as starlings, mynas, and oxpeckers, includes about 27 genera and 111 species divided into two subfamilies, the Sturninae (starlings and mynas: 26 genera, 109 species) and the Buphaginae (oxpeckers: 1 genus, 2 species).
The two African Oxpeckers have been included in this family in the past but are now placed in their own family Buphagidae.
Physical characteristics
Starlings and mynahs are small to medium-sized birds that vary in length from 18–43 cm. The terms starling and myna have no significance relative to their relationships with one another, but rather with the common names applied in different regions.
Most starlings and mynas are stocky with strong legs and a strong, straight bill, a short squared-off tail, and rounded (in resident and forest species) to somewhat long (in migrant and open country species) wings. While sturnid bills are generally straight and often nearly as long as the head, they range from thin and pointed (e.g., European starling) to heavy and somewhat blunt. Mynas often show white wing patches on the primaries. Sturnids often have long, narrow hackle feathers on the neck; those of males are generally most distinctive. Juveniles tend to have darker, duller, sometimes streaked plumage. Starlings have only one molt a year, following breeding, but seasonal differences in appearance are found in some species as a result of wear.
There is less sexual dimorphism in plumage however, with only 25 species showing such differences between the sexes. The plumage of the starlings is often brightly coloured due to iridescence; this colour is derived from the structure of the feathers, not from any pigment.
Distribution and habitat
The starlings inhabit a wide range of habitats from the Arctic Circle to the Equator, in fact the only habitat they do not typically occupy is the driest sandy deserts. The family is naturally absent from the Americas and from large parts of Australia, but is present over the majority of Europe, Africa and Asia.
African species are more likely to be found in open woodlands and savannah; 33 species are open area specialists compared to 13 true forest species. The high diversity of species found in Asia and Africa is not matched by Europe, which has one widespread (and very common) species and two more restricted species. The European Starling is both highly widespread and extremely catholic in its habitat, occupying most types of open habitat. Like many other starling species it has also adapted readily to human-modified habitat, including farmland, orchards, plantations and urban areas.
Behaviour
The starlings are generally a highly social family. Most species associate in flocks of varying sizes throughout the year. A flock of starlings is called a murmuration. These flocks may include other species of starlings and sometimes species from other families. This sociality is particularly evident in the their roosting behaviour; in the non-breeding season some roosts can number in the thousands of birds. Their calls mainly various unmusical squeaks and squawks.
Diet and feeding
The diets of the starlings are usually dominated by fruits and insects. Many species are important dispersers of seeds in Asia and Africa, for example white sandalwood, Indian Banyan. In addition to trees they are also important dispersers of parasitic mistletoes. In South Africa the Red-winged Starling is an important disperser of the introduced Acacia cyclops.
If it wasn't for the distribution, the last two ones are almost alike....give or take a few centimeters -O
"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." Nelson Mandela The desire for equality must never exceed the demands of knowledge
Description
Glossy blue-green plumage. Bronze ear-coverts and carpal patch. Purple rump. Violet tail with blackish bars. Dark brown eye. Black bill and legs. Sexes similar. Juveniles have matt black underparts and dull green sheen on upperparts.
Distribution and habitat
Occurs from southern Angola and western Zambia to southern Africa, where it is locally common in Namibia, Botswana and northern South Africa. It generally prefers open woodland and savanna, especially with Camel thorn (Acacia erioloba) and Knob thorn (Acacia nigrescens) trees.
Food
It mainly eats arthropods, supplemented with small vertebrates and fruit, doing most of its foraging on the ground. The following food items have been recorded in its diet: Arthropods (locusts, termites, centipedes), small vertebrates, mice, fruit and flowers of Acacia trees
Breeding
The nest is usually a tree cavity, either natural or an abandoned woodpecker or barbet nest. It may also use a crevice in a cliff, hole in a building or a nest box, lining the egg chamber with grass, green leaves and feathers and sometimes cloth, paper, string and snake skin. Egg-laying season is from October-April. It lays 2-4 eggs, which are incubated solely by the female for about 14 days. The chicks are fed by both parents, leaving the nest after about 20-24 days.
Description
Length: 30 cm. Weight: 115-155 g
Adult male has glossy black plumage with dark blue sheen overall, except on the wings where the primary flight feathers are bright chestnut with narrow blackish tips. On folded wings, only a rufous patch is visible. The rather long, pointed tail is black. The strong bill is black. The eyes are dark red. Legs and feet are black.
The female is very similar in plumage, but she has brownish-grey head, chin, throat and upper breast.
The juvenile resembles male but duller and less glossy. It has brown bill and eyes.
Distribution and habitat
Occurs in patches from Ethiopia through Kenya, Tanzania and Malawi to southern Africa. Here it is common from northern Mozambique and Zimbabwe to eastern Botswana and South Africa (as well as Lesotho and Swaziland), while absent from the Karoo and Kalahari. It generally prefers rocky outcrops and gorges in highland grasslands, occasionally visiting forests for fruit, but in recent times it has flourished in urban areas, roosting and nesting in buildings.
General Habits
In Summer breeding pairs avoid other pairs, roosting at their own nest site. However, in Winter it forms large flocks of up to around 500 birds, which often roost communally in trees, cliffs and buildings. It can cause serious problems for people living in buildings used as roost sites, as the starlings make a lot of noise and may attack human residents.
Food
It mainly eats fruit supplemented with arthropods, nestlings and lizards, foraging on the ground and in vegetation, gleaning food from leaves and branches. It is an extremely adaptable feeder, as it removes ticks from antelope, picks up scraps at picnic sites, takes food from the intertidal zone and scavenges meat off carcasses. The following food items have been recorded in its diet: Fruit, termites, locusts (Orthoptera), ticks, spiders, millipedes, scorpions, molluscs, freshwater crabs, nestlings, lizards, frogs, carrion.
Breeding
It is monogamous with pairs staying together for several years, possibly life, often producing two broods in one breeding season. The nest is built by both sexes, consisting of a large flat platform built of sticks, grass and rootlets secured together with mud. The interior is usually lined with grass or other fine material, such as horse or even human hair, plucked from peoples' heads. It is typically placed on a rock or building ledge, on beam or at the base of a palm frond; it has also been recorded to use a wrecked fishing trawler 200m offshore and a broadcasting tower at the University of Cape Town. Egg-laying season is from September-March. It lays 1-5 eggs, which are incubated mainly by the female for about 13-14 days, while the male feeds her at the nest. The chicks are fed by both parents on a diet of pieces of insects, leaving the nest after about 22-28 days. The first brood of the breeding season are usually chased away by their parents about 2 weeks later, but the second brood may remain dependent on the adults for 5-6 weeks after leaving.
Male
Female
Breeding male © leachy
©Dewi
©Toko
Male & female
©Michele Nel
©Nan
©Nan
