White-faced Starling

Taxobox
name = White-faced Starling
status = VU
status_system = iucn3.1
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Chordata
classis = Aves
ordo = Passeriformes
familia = Sturnidae
genus = "Sturnus" (but see text)
species = "S. albofrontatus"
binomial = "Sturnus albofrontatus"
binomial_authority = (Bonaparte, 1854)
synonyms = "Sturnia albofrontata"

The White-faced Starling, "Sturnus albofrontatus", is a member of the starling family of birds. It is an endemic resident breeder in Sri Lanka. It was for a long time erroneously known as "S. senex"; this was eventually identified as a junior synonym of the Red-billed Starling (Mees 1997).

The adults of these 22cm-long birds have green-glossed dark grey upperparts and whitish underparts. The head is paler than the underparts. The sexes are similar, but juveniles are duller, with brown upperparts and greyer underparts.

As the genus "Sturnus" is highly paraphyletic, it is not certain whether the present species will be retained therein. Though it has not been included in recent studies (Jønsson & Fjeldså 2006, Zuccon et al. 2006), its appearance suggests it is not close to the European Starling, the type species of "Sturnus". It is also generally not included among those species which are often (and probably correctly) placed in "Acridotheres".

This passerine is typically found in tall forest, usually high in the canopy. The White-faced Starling builds its nest in a hole. The normal clutch is two eggs.

Like most starlings, the White-faced Starling is fairly omnivorous, eating fruit, nectar and insects.

References

*|year=2004|id=40345|title=Sturnus albofrontatus|downloaded=20 July 2007 Database entry includes brief justification for why this species is Vulnerable.
* (1999): "Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives". Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. ISBN 0-691-04910-6
* (2006): A phylogenetic supertree of oscine passerine birds (Aves: Passeri). "Zool. Scripta" 35(2): 149–186. doi|:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2006.00221.x (HTML abstract)
* (1997): On the identity of "Heterornis senex" Bonaparte. "Bull. B. O. C." 117(1): 67-68.
*aut|Zuccon, Dario; Cibois, Alice; Pasquet, Eric & Ericson, Per G.P. (2006): Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data reveal the major lineages of starlings, mynas and related taxa. "Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution" 41(2): 333-344. doi|10.1016/j.ympev.2006.05.007 (HTML abstract)