Alternative name: Silky Starling
- Spodiopsar sericeus
Poliopsar sericeus; Sturnus sericeus
Identification
22cm. A medium-sized starling.
- Mainly grey body
- Black tail and black wings with white primary coverts and bases
- Male with whitish head, clearly contrasting with body. Female with whitish throat and brownish tinge.
- Red bill with dark tip
- Orange legs
Juveniles have a orange-yellow bill.
Distribution
Found in southeast China, including Hong Kong and Hainan. Winter visitor in northern Vietnam.
Has been recorded as vagrant or rare visitor in South Korea, the Philippines and Japan.
Fairly common and probably increasing in its range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
It's sometimes placed in the genus Poliopsar or in Sturnus.
Habitat
Open areas with trees, cultivated, gardens and scrub.
Behaviour
Feeds on insects and fruit.
In large flocks outside breeding season.
The nest is placed in a tree hole, in a roof or a wall of a house.
Resident or partial migrant.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2015. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2015, with updates to August 2015. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) Red-billed Starling. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 14 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Red-billed_Starling
