White-billed Starling - BirdForum Opus

Female (left) and male (right)
Photo by eliasbayou
Debrelibanos, Ethiopia, July 2011

Identification

25cm. A medium-sized dark starling with a rather short tail.

Females have a pale grey head and breast. Juveniles are similar to males.

Easily distinguished from other Red-winged Starlings by the white bill and the square tail.

Highlands of Ethiopia and Eritrea.
Locally common to very common.

This is a monotypic species.

Cliffs, gorges and moorland, locally also in towns. Occurs from 2000 to 3000m.

Feeds on fruit and insects.
Forages in pairs or small groups in trees. Forms bigger flocks in non-breeding season.

Breeding season August to October in Ethiopia. A monogamous species. The nest is placed in a hole or crevice in rock or in buildings. Lays 4 eggs.

Presumably a resident species.

Clements, JF. 2010. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2010. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/Clements%206.5.xls/view
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
Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154

BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) White-billed Starling. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 23 November 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-billed_Starling