Superb Starling

Superb Starling

Lamprotornis Superbus

Eats

These birds are omnivores, eating a variety of insects, berries, fruit, and seeds.

Lives

Native to eastern Africa in Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. Dry woodlands and forests, thorn and acacia woodland, scrub grasslands, and around human inhabited areas such as agricultural fields and urban and suburban areas.

Behavior

The superb starling is a very social bird, gathering in groups that can sometimes include thousands of individuals. They hava a long and loud song consisting of trills and chatters. At midday it gives a softer song of repeated phrases. There are several harsh calls, the most complex of which is described as “a shrill, screeching skerrrreeeeee-cherrrroooo-tcherrreeeeeeet.” When foraging for food, they probe the soil with their beak and then force their beak open to clear a space in the dirt to search.

Description

Small, short-tailed starlings with a long and narrow beak, round bodies, and a distinctive feather pattern.  Adults have black heads and iridescent blue-to-green back, chest, wings, and tail. The belly is red orange, separated from the blue chest by a white bar. The under-tail feathers and the wing linings are white.  

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Least Concern
Least Concern
Near Threatened
Near Threatened
Vulnerable
Vulnerable
Endangered
Endangered
Critically Endangered
Critically Endangered
Extinct in the Wild
Extinct in the Wild
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