Violet-backed Starling

Alternative name: Amethyst Starling

Cinnyricinclus leucogaster

Male bird
Photo by rudydbn
Mkhuze, KwaZulu-Natal, January 2006

Identification

16cm

• Iridescent metallic purple head, throat, back and tail
• Deep purplish blue wings
• White breast and belly, occasionally lightly streaked
  

Female

• Brown head and back
• White belly, heavily streaked
  

Juvenile: similar to female

• Yellow eyes

Female
Photo by rudydbn
Mkhuze, KwaZulu-Natal, January 2006

Distribution

Africa south of Sahara and Arabian Peninsula:
Western Africa: Senegambia, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, Ghana, Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Niger, Chad, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Gabon, DRC, Angola
Eastern Africa: Sudan, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Somalia, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Tanzania, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi
Southern Africa: Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe, South Africa, KwaZulu-Natal, Lesotho, Swaziland
Middle East: Arabian Peninsula, Saudi Arabia, Yemen

Taxonomy

There are three recognized subspecies:

• C. l. leucogaster:

• Senegal to Ethiopia, Gabon, Zaire, Uganda, north-western Kenya, Tanzania

• C. l. verreauxi:

• Lower Congo to southern Zaire, Uganda, Kenya, Namibia and South Africa

• C. l. arabicus:

• Northern Ethiopia, Eritrea, eastern Sudan, north-western Somalia and Arabian Peninsula

Violet-backed Starling is the only member of its genus.

Habitat

Photo by Steve G
Masai Mara, Kenya, August 2007

Mountain cliffs, savanna woodland (avoids thick evergreen forests), gardens, bushland near fruiting trees.

Behaviour

Diet

The diet includes fruit, especially figs, and some insects.

Breeding

They nest in tree holes lined with green leaves. The clutch consists of 2-4 pale blue oval eggs with reddish-brown spots. Incubated by the female for 2 weeks. Both adults care for the young for 3 weeks, feeding them mainly insects.

References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. Avibase
3. Paradise Earth
4. BF Member observations

• List of references

Recommended Citation

• BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Violet-backed Starling. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 21 May 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Violet-backed_Starling

External Links

Search for photos of Violet-backed Starling in the gallery