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African STARLINGs and their Allies

Order Passeriformes   Family Sturnidae

The family Sturnidae includes the starlings and mynas. Family members are collectively know as the starlings. The family also used to include the oxpeckers, but they now are thought to be rather distant relatives. Some starling species are good mimics, and the family is related to the mimidae family of mockingbirds. Starlings are small to medium sized. They are usually dark colored, often with a metallic sheen, but some have bright colors. Many species have very bright eyes. The starlings eat insects and fruit. They favor open spaces.



Genus Cinnyricinclus
These African starlings are found in wooded habitats of sub-Saharan Africa

Starling, Sharpe's   Cinnyricinclus sharpii  also  Pholia sharpii  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans  2) Kristian Svensson - Uganda
1) Pair  2) Male



Starling, Violet-backed  also Amethyst Starling   Cinnyricinclus leucogaster  Found: Africa
The male Violet-backed Starling has glossy violet upperparts, head, upper-breast; white lower-breast, belly. Female has brown upperparts, head; white underparts with brown streaks.
Image by: 1) Doug Jansob  2) Dick Daniels - North Carolina Zoo   3) Charle_J_Sharp - Namibia   4)  Brendan_Ryan
1) Female  2 - 4) Male



Genus Creatophora - 1 species

Starling,_Wattled Creatophora cinerea   Found: Africa
The Wattled Starling has mainly pail gray plumage with black flight feathers; yellow wattle around eye.
Image by: 1) Carol Foil  - Rift Valley, Kenya   2, 3) Dick Daniels - Tazania  4) Dick - San Diego Zoo  5) Bernard_Dupont - South Africa
2) Identified by Charlie Westerinen




Genus Grafisia - 1 species

Starling,_White-collared   Grafisia torquata  Found: Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, DR Congo, Gabon
The male White-collared Starling has mainly glossy-black plumage; white fore-collar; black bill, legs; yellow eyes. Female has mainly gray plumage; black tipped wings, tail;
Image by: 1) Lars_Petersson  2) Ron_Knight - Uganda 3) Artur_Bujanowicz - Cameroon
1) Female 2, 3) Male



Genus  Hartlaubius - 1 species

Starling,_Madagascar  Hartlaubius auratus  Found: Madagascar
Image by: 1) Pat and Keith Taylor  2) Lee Hunter  3) Jack Haskell



Genus Hylopsar

Starling,_Copper-tailed   Hylopsar cupreocauda  Found: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone
Image by: 1) Nik_Borrow - Ghana


Starling,_Purple-headed   Hylopsar purpureiceps  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) William_Rutledge



Genus Lamprotornis
Lamprotornis is a large genus of glossy-starlings all of which occur in Africa south of the Sahara. They have glossy blue or green upperparts, which is due to hollow melanin granules arranged in a single layer near the feather barbule’s surface. The underparts of these species lacks iridescence and may be blue, purple, yellow or brown. Most Lamprotornis starlings have striking yellow or red irides and some have long tails. They are found in a variety of habitats from forests to open woodland and gardens. They nest in tree holes. Most species are gregarious outside the breeding season.

Starling,_African_Pied   Lamprotornis bicolor  Found: South Africa, Lesotho, Swaziland
The African Pied Starling has mainly black plumage; white lower belly, rump; white eyes; yellow lower mandible.
Image by: 1, 2) Derek_Keats - South Africa  3, 4, 5) Brian_Ralphs  6, 7) Dick Daniels - Oudtshoorn, South Africa



Starling,_Ashy  Lamprotornis unicolor   Found: Africa
The Ashy Starling has gray-brown plumage; long tail; yellow eyes.
Image by: 1) Yoky - Tanzania  2) Dick Daniels - Tanzania 3) Yathin Krishnappa


Starling,_Bronze-tailed  Lamprotornis chalcurus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Torwall  2) Ron Knight - Cameroon


Starling,_Burchell's Glossy- Lamprotornis australis Found: Africa
The Burchell's Glossy-Starling has a large dark ear patch; dark eyes.
Image by:  1) Werner Witte - South Africa  2) Jerry Oldenettel - Namibia   3) Bernard_Dupont - South Africa  4) Brendan_Ryan - South Africa


Starling,_Cape also Brahminy Myna  also Red-shouldered Glossy-starling  Lamprotornis nitens  Found: southern Africa
The Cape Starling has mainly greenish-blue plumage; dark eye-patch; yellow eyes.
Similar to: Greater Blue-eared Starling. In South Africa, Great Blue-eared Starling is only in the extreme northeast. If the bird is found elsewhere in South Africa then it is Cape Glossy Starling.
Similar to: Lesser Blue-eared Starling. Lesser Blue-eared Starling not found in South Africa. If the bird is found in South Africa then it is Cape Glossy Starling.
Image by: 1, 2) Arno Meintjes - South Africa  3) Dick Daniels near Kruger National Park, South Africa   4, 5, 6) Dick - Johannesburg, South Africa     7) Cristiano Crolle - Etosha Nat.Park, Namibia



Starling,_Chestnut-bellied   Lamprotornis pulcher  Found: Africa
Image by: 1)  Frans_Vandewalle - Gambia  2) Nik_Borrow - Senegal  3) ChriKo


Starling,_Copper-tailed Glossy-  Lamprotornis cupreocauda  Found: Africa
The Copper-tailed Glossy-Starling has mainly blue plumage; dark purple upper-breast; copper-colored tail; yellow eye; faint black eye-line.
Image by: Emily Damstra


Starling,_Fischer's  Lamprotornis fischeri  Found: Africa
The Fischer'sw Starling has dull ashy-fray upperparts, breast; white belly, under-tail; whtie eyes.
Image by: 1) Peter Steward - Kenya   2) Franceso Veronesi - Kenya   3) Donald Macauley - Kenya


Starling,_Golden-breasted  Lamprotornis regius  Found: Africa
The Golden-breasted Starling has greenish-blue iridescent upperparts, upper-breast; golden lower-beast, belly; white eyes.
Image by:   1, 2) Dick Daniels - Birds of Eden, South Africa  3) Dick - San Diego Zoo
    4, 5) Dick - National Aviary  6) Sandy Cole - National Aviary   7, 8) Dick - Woodland Park Zoo, Seattle


Starling,_Greater Blue-eared   Lamprotornis chalybaeus  Found: Africa
The Greater Blue-eared Starling has glossy blue-green upperparts; purple-blue underparts; yellow or orange eyes.
Similar to: Lesser Blue-eared Starling. Greater Blue-eared Starling is larger than Lesser Blue-eared Starling and has bluer upper-belly and breast.
Similar to: Cape Glossy-Starling. In South Africa, Great Blue-eared Starling is only in the extreme northeast. If the bird is found elsewhere in South Africa then it is Cape Glossy Starling.
Image by:  1) Carol Foil - Kenya  2, 3) Dick Daniels - South Africa   4, ) Dick - Kenya  6) Shankar S - Kenya  7) Joseph Mochoge - Gilgil, Kenya



Starling,_Hilderbrandt's  Lamprotornis hildebrandti Found: Kenya and Tanzania
The Hilderbrandt's has mainly blue upperparts; bronze-green wings with blue primaries; purple throat, upper-breast; blue-green tail; orange-buff lower-breast; belly; red eyes.
Similar to: Shelley's Starling. Hilderbrandt's Starling has whitish eyes. Shelley's Starling has orange eyes.
Similar to: Superb Starling. Superb Starling has white breast-band; Hilderbrandt's does not. Superb Starling has whitish eyes; Hilderbrandt's has red eyes.
Image by: 1, 2) Dick Daniels - Tanzania    4, 5, 6, 7, 8) Dick - Kenya  3) Nik_Borrow - Tanzania


Starling,_Iris Glossy-  also  Emerald Starling   Lamprotornis iris  Found: west Africa
The Emerald Starling has metalic green upperparts, crown, wings, tail; metalic purple ear coverts, underparts.
Image by:   1, 2) Dick Daniels - North Carolina Zoo   3) Sandy Cole -North Carolina Zoo  4) Dick - San Diego Zoo


Starling,_Lesser_Blue-eared  Lamprotornis chloropterus  Found: Africa
The Lesser Blue-eared -Starling has glossy blue-green upperparts; purple-blue lower-belly; blue-green upper-belly breast; yellow or orange eyes.
Similar to: Greater Blue-eared Glossy-Starling. Greater Blue-eared Glossy-Starling is larger than Lesser Blue-eared Starling and has bluer upper-belly and breast.
Similar to: Cape Glossy-Starling. Lesser Blue-eared Starling not found in South Africa. If the bird is found in South Africa then it is Cape Glossy Starling
Image by: 1) Torwall  2) Sumeet_Moghe - Ghana  3) Sue Robinson  4) Frans_Vandewalle - Gambia


Starling,_Long-tailed Glossy-  Lamprotornis caudatus   Found: tropical Africa
The Long-tailed Glossy-Starling has a very long tail; pale yellow eyes.
Image by: 1, 2) Thomas Hashlam - Senegal  3) JV Verde - Gambia


Starling,_Meves's Glossy-  also  Meve's Starling  Fregilupus varius  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Derek Keats - South Africa  2) Nanosanchez -Botswana  3) Bernard_Dupont - South Africa


Starling,_Principe_Glossy-   Lamprotornis ornatus  Found: São Tomé and Príncipe (off west coast central Africa)
Image by: 1) Le Vaillant  2) Nik_Borrow


Starling,_Purple  Lamprotornis purpureus  Found: Africa
The Purple Starling has mainly purple plumage; green wings; yellow eyes.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - Birds of Eden, South Africa  2) Gerard van Drunen  3) Allan_Hopkins
3) With Brown Babbler


Starling,_Purple-headed Glossy-  Lamprotornis purpureiceps  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Swaysland and Wiener  2) Thejana de Zoysa  3) okirakubirder


Starling,_Ruppell's Longtail also Ruppell's Glossy-Starling Lamprotornis purpuroptera  Found: Africa
The Ruppell's Glossy-Starling has mainly dark blue plumage; purple tail; black head; whitish eyes.
Image by: 1) Yoky - Tanzania  2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels - Tanzania  


Starling,_Sharp-tailed  Lamprotornis acuticaudus  Found: Africa
The Sharp-tailed Starling has greenish-blue plumage; black-ear patch; red (male) or orange (female) eyes; narrow wedge-shaped tail.
Image by: 1) Torwall 2) Maans_Booysen - Angola


Starling,_Shelley's  Lamprotornis shelleyi  Found: Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, Sudan, and Tanzania.
Shelley's Starling has blue upperparts, upper-breast; chestnut lower-breast; belly, orrange eyes.
Similar to: Hilderbrandt's Starling. Hilderbrandt's Starling has whitish eyes. Shelley's Starling has orange eyes.
Image by: 1) Torwall  2) Lip_Kee - Ethiopia


Starling,_Splendid Glossy-  Lamprotornis splendidus  Found: Africa
The Splendid Glossy-Startling  has mainly purplish-blue plumage with green wings; bronze patch on side of neck; black ear-patch, forehead; pale eyes.
Image by: 1) Paul


Starling,_Superb Lamprotornis superbus   Found: Africa
The Superb Starling has greenish-blue upperparts, breast, wings, tail; black head; white waist-band; red-orange belly; whitish eyes.
Similar to: Hilderbrandt's Starling. Superb Starling has white breast-band; Hilderbrandt's does not. Superb Starling has whitish eyes; Hilderbrandt's has red eyes.
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - Birds of Eden, South Africa  2) Dick - Tanzania    3, 4) Dick - San Diego Zoo    5) Dick -Kenya   6) Becky_Matsubara - Tanzania



Starling,_White-crowned  Lamprotornis albicapillus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Kris Maes - Ethiopia



Genus Neocichla - 1 species

Starling,_Babbling   Neocichla gutturalis  Found: Angola, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia
Image by: 1) Jason_Anderson  2) Naturalis_Biodiversity_Center  3) Nik Borrow
1) Juvenile



Genus Notopholia - 1 species

Starling,_Black-bellied   Notopholia corrusca  Found: Kenya, Mozambique, Somalia, South Africa, Swaziland, Tanzania, Zimbabwe
The Black-bellied Glossy-starling has glossy bluish-black upperparts; glossy black underparts; reddish-orange eyes.
Image by: 1) Francesco_Veronesi  2) William_Dicks - South Africa 3) Sandy Cole  - Birds of Eden 4) Arthur Chapman - Birds of Eden 



Genus Onychognathus
These are African starlings. They are quite similar, and characterised by rufous primary wing feathers, very obvious in flight. The males are typically mainly glossy black, and the females dull dark grey.

Starling,_Bristle-crowned  Onychognathus salvadorii  Found: Africa
Image by: 1, 2) Carol Foil - Kenya  3) Charles_J_Sharp 4) Steve_Garvie - Kenya


Starling,_Chestnut-winged  Onychognathus fulgidus  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Arthur Grosset  2) Aaron Maizlish - Ghana
1) Female  2) Male


Starling,_Newmann's   Onychognathus neumanni  Found: Africa
The Newmann's Starling has rufous primary flight feathers. Male has mainly glossy black plumage; female has ash gray plumage.
Image by: 1) Maria_Hagglund 2) Lionel_Sineux
1) Female 2) Male


Starling,_Pale-winged  Onychognathus nabouroup  Found: Africa
The Pale-winged Starling has mainly glossy black plumage; orange eyes; white flight feathers.
Image by: 1) Hans Hillewaert - Namibia  2) Cristiano Crolle - Namibia  3) Charles_J_Sharp - Namibia  4) Alan_Manson - South Africa


Starling,_Red-winged  Onychognathus morio  Found: Africa
The male Red-winged Starling has mainly irredescent black plumage; red flight feathers; dark eyes. The female has a gray head and upper-breast, but otherwise resembles the male.
Image by:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9) Dick Daniels - South Africa 7) Sandy Cole - South Africa 
1, 2, 3, 4) Female  5 - 9) Male




Starling,_Socotran  Onychognathus frater  Found: Yemen
The male Socotran Starling has mainly irredescent black plumage; red flight feathers; dark eyes. The female has a gray head and upper-breast, but otherwise resembles the male.
Image by: 1) Rod Waddington  2, 3) cesare_dolzani 
1, 2) Female  3) Male


Starling,_Slender-billed  Onychognathus tenuirostris  Found: Africa
Image by: 1)  Leonard_Floyd - Ethiopia


Starling,_SomalOnychognathus blythii  Found: Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Somalia and Yemen
Image by: 1) Henrik Gronvold   2, 3) Cesare Dolzani
1) Pair  2) Female  3) Male


Starling,_Tristram's  Onychognathus tristramii  Found: northern Africa
The male Tristram's Starling has glossy iridescent glossy black plumage; orange patch on outer wing; black bill, legs. Females and juveniles are similar but duller and with a graish head, breast.
Image by: 1) Shanthanu Bhardwaj - Israel  2) Sergey Yeliseev - Egypt  3)  Oraaaass - Masada  4) Bert_Kaufmann - Israel
1, 2) Female 3, 4) Male


Starling,_Waller's  Onychognathus walleri  Found: Africa
The male Waller's Starling has glossy black plumage with red primaries. Female has gray-black plumage. Both have red eyes.
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans  2, 3, 4) Dick Daniels - Keekorok Lodge in the Masai Mara, Kenya
2 - 4) Three photos of the same bird.


Starling,_White-billed  Onychognathus albirostris  Found: Eritrea, Ethiopia
Image by: 1) Stephen Davis



Genus Poeoptera

Starling,_Abbott's   Poeoptera femoralis  Found: Kenya, Tanzania
The Abbott's Startling has black head, breast; white underparts; yellow eye.
Image by: mpgoodey - Tanzania
1) Male


Starling,_Kenrick's   Poeoptera kenricki  Found: Kenya, Tanzania
Image by: 1) Geoff_Anabel_Harries - Tanzania  2) Allan_Hopkins - Tanzania
1) Female 2) Male


Starling,_Narrow-tailed  Poeoptera lugubris  Found: west and central Africa
The Narrow-tailed Starling has dark blue (male) or dark gray (female) plumage with chestnut patches on the wings; long narrow tails; yellow eyes.
Image by: 1) John Gerrard Keulemans  2) David Cook - Uganda  3) Peter Wang
1, 2, 3) Male


Starling,_Stuhlmann's  Poeoptera stuhlmanni  Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Dick Daniels - Keekorok Lodge in the Masai Mara, Kenya



Genus Speculipastor - 1 species

Starling,_Magpie   Speculipastor bicolor  Found: eastern Africa
The male Magpie Starling has blue-black upperparts, heard, upper-breast; white rest of underparts. Female similar to male with gray head.
Image by: 1) Fred_Hodgson - Kenya




OXPECKERs

Order Passeriformes   Family Buphagidae - 1 genus

The ocpeckers were previously considered part of the starling family.


Genus Buphagus

Oxpecker, Red-billed Buphagus erythrorhynchus   Found: Africa
Image by:  1, 7) Joseph Mochoge - Eburu Kenya  2, 5, 6) Dick Daniels - Kenya 3) Dick - Hluhluwe- South Africa  
1) Impala hair visible in upper left of image - used by bird to cushion fragile eggs
2) Thumbnail shows juvenile; main photo has adult and juvenile.



Oxpecker, Yellow-billed Buphagus africanus   Found: Africa
Image by: 1) Arno Meintjes  2) Dick Daniels - Tanzania   3) Dick - Keekorok Lodge in the Masai Mara, Kenya





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