- Magpie Starling
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Magpie Starling Conservation status Scientific classification Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Chordata Class: Aves Order: Passeriformes Family: Sturnidae Genus: Speculipastor
Reichenow, 1879Species: S. bicolor Binomial name Speculipastor bicolor
Reichenow, 1879The Magpie Starling, Speculipastor bicolor is a member of the starling family from eastern Africa.
Contents
Description
The Magpie Starling is about 16–19 cm (6.5-7.5 in) in length. The white patches at base of primaries are obvious in flight. The male is a shiny blue-black on upperparts, head and upper breast, with mostly white below and bloodred eyes. The female is a dull blackish above with dark grey crown, and a dark grey throat is separated from white belly by a glossy black breast band. Her eyes are red or orange-red. The Juvenile is brown with a white belly; eyes brown, becoming orange-red in as the bird matures. Exceptional young birds are entirely white below, including chin and throat.
The call is a prolonged soft babbling quereeeh quaaa kereek quak-quak, suaaaa, cherak-chik-chak...mixed higher harsh notes.
Distribution and habitat
It is a gregarious nomadic pied starling of dry brush and thorn-scrub in northern and eastern Kenya.
References
- BirdLife International (2004). Speculipastor bicolor. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
- Dale A. Zimmerman, Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania, Princeton University Press, 1999
External links
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