Hildebrandt's starling

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Hildebrandt's starling
Adult in Tanzania

Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Aves
Order: Passeriformes
Family: Sturnidae
Genus: Lamprotornis
Species:
L. hildebrandti
Binomial name
Lamprotornis hildebrandti
(Cabanis, 1878)

Hildebrandt's starling (Lamprotornis hildebrandti) is a species of

superspecies with and has previously been included in the same species as Shelley's starling, a migratory species ranging from Ethiopia and Somalia to Kenya. Both of these species have also been combined into a superspecies with the chestnut-bellied starling of West Africa.[2] It was originally placed in the now defunct genus Notauges.[3] The species is named for Johann Maria Hildebrandt, a German collector who was the first European to obtain specimens.[4]

Distribution and habitat

Hildebrandt's starling is found in

least concern. Its habitat is not threatened and it occurs in a number of protected areas.[2]

Description

Immature bird in Kenya

Hildebrandt's starling is 18 cm (7.1 in) in length and weighs 50 to 69 g (1.8–2.4 oz). The adult has bright

interference of reflected light from regimented microscopic feather structures and not from pigments. The head is blue as are most of the upperparts, the wings are bronze-green with blue primaries, the throat and upper breast are glossy purple, and the tail is glossy blue-green. The middle breast and upper belly are orange-buff and the lower belly is rufous. The iris is orange-red, and the bill and legs are black. Male and female adults are identical in external appearance. Can be confused with the superb starling. The juveniles are quite different, with charcoal grey upperparts and chestnut brown lowerparts.[2]

The species makes a number of calls and songs. Its song is a slow low "ch-rak ch-rak chee-chee-wee chee-wee rak rak rak". It also has an alarm call, "chu-ee" and has a contact call, "chule".[2]

Behaviour

The diet of Hildebrandt's starling is a combination of insects and fruit, with insects apparently being the more important constituent. It has been observed feeding on beetles and grasshoppers, as well as hawking for flying termites. Seeds from fruit have also been found in the stomachs of some birds, including those from

Rhus and Apodytes dimidiata. It usually feeds on the ground, in pairs and small flocks, and will readily follow large mammals and catch prey flushed by their movement. It also joins mixed flocks of other starlings.[2]

Hildebrandt's starling is a seasonal nester, with birds nesting in March to May and October to December, although in some parts of Kenya the season is May to July. It usually breeds in pairs but cooperative breeding has been recorded on occasion. It is a cavity nester, usually building its nest of plant fibres in an abandoned

parasitised by the great spotted cuckoo.[2]

References

  1. doi:10.2305/IUCN.UK.2016-3.RLTS.T22710779A94260192.en
    . Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  2. ^
    ISBN 978-84-96553-50-7
    .
  3. doi:10.1111/j.1469-7998.1878.tb08011.x
    .
  4. JSTOR 4118872
    .

External links
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