Golden-breasted Starling

Golden-breasted Starling
At Central Park Zoo, New York, USA
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Sturnidae
Genus:	Cosmopsarus
Species:	C. regius
Binomial name
Cosmopsarus regius Reichenow, 1879

The Golden-breasted Starling, Cosmopsarus regius also known as Royal Starling is a medium-sized, up to 35cm long, passerine in the starling family. The adult has a metallic green head and upperback, bright golden yellow breast and belly, dark bill and legs, white iris and metallic violet blue on wings, back, neck and its long tail feathers. Both sexes are similar. The young is duller than adult.

The Golden-breasted Starling is distributed to the grassland, savanna and shrubland of East Africa, from Somalia, Ethiopia, Kenya and northern Tanzania.

The Golden-breasted Starling is a social animal, living in groups of three to twelve individuals. Its diet consists mainly of insects and termites. Adult birds catch insects in flight and dig up termite mounds to find prey.^[1] The Golden-breasted Starling molts once a year, after the breeding season.

The female usually lays between three to five pale green eggs with red speckles. It nests in tree holes. The nest is made from leaves, roots and other vegetation matters. Entire family groups cooperate in raising young by gathering food and nesting materials.^[1]

Widespread throughout its habitat range, the Golden-breasted Starling is evaluated as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species.

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Golden-Breasted Starling Fact Sheet, Lincoln Park Zoo"

• BirdLife International (2004). Cosmopsarus regius. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 February 2007. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern

External links

• BirdLife Species Factsheet
• Golden-breasted Starling videos on the Internet Bird Collection