White-collared Starling - BirdForum Opus

Grafisia torquata

Identification

21cm. A medium-sized dark starling.

• Glossy blue-black plumage
• Distinctive white patch on upper breast
• Orange-yellow eye with deep orange outer ring
• Black bill and legs

Females are charcoal-grey without gloss and with dull black wings and tail.
Juveniles like females but with brownish-grey underparts and a dark brown eye.

Distribution

Locally found in central Cameroon, the northern Central African Republic, northern Congo and northern Democratic Republic of the Congo. Non breeding birds in Gabon.
Poorly known.

Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species.

Habitat

Savanna and open woodland. Also in montane grassland in Cameroon.

Behaviour

Feeds probably mainly on fruit but takes also some insects.
Forages in trees with other birds like Splendid Glossy Starling.
Usually in pairs or small flocks. Bigger flocks of up to 100 birds recorded in the Congo Basin.
Possible nest-building recorded from February to March in Cameroon, no other information about breeding.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2011. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to August 2011. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/downloadable-clements-checklist
2. Gill, F and D Donsker (Eds). 2011. IOC World Bird Names (version 2.10). Available at http://www.worldbirdnames.org/.
3. 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

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2025) White-collared Starling. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 13 May 2025 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/White-collared_Starling

External Links

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