Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling
Encyclopedia
The Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling or Greater Blue-eared Starling (Lamprotornis chalybaeus) is a bird
that breeds from Senegal
east to Ethiopia
and south through eastern Africa
to northeastern South Africa
and Angola
. It is a very common species of open woodland that undertakes some seasonal movements
.
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The Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling is a 22 cm long, short tailed bird. This starling
is glossy blue-green with a purple-blue belly and blue ear patch. Its iris is bright yellow or orange. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile is duller and has blackish brown underparts.
The populations from southern Kenya
southwards are smaller than northern birds and are sometimes considered to be a separate subspecies, L. c. sycobius.
The Lesser Blue-eared Glossy-starling
is very similar to this species, but the blue of the belly does not extend forward of the legs in that bird.
The Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling has a range of musical or grating calls, but the most familiar is a nasal squee-ar.
s or barbets
. It will also nest inside the large stick nests of the Sacred Ibis
or Abdim's Stork
. The three to five eggs are greenish-blue with some brown or purple spots, and hatch in 13–14 days. The chicks leave the nest in another 23 days.
This species is parasitised
by the Great Spotted Cuckoo
and occasionally the Greater Honeyguide
, may also be shared.
, taking a wide range of invertebrate
s seeds and berries, especially fig
s, but is diet is mainly insect
s taken from the ground.
It will perch on livestock, feeding on insects disturbed by the animals and occasionally removing ectoparasites
.
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
that breeds from Senegal
Senegal
Senegal , officially the Republic of Senegal , is a country in western Africa. It owes its name to the Sénégal River that borders it to the east and north...
east to Ethiopia
Ethiopia
Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...
and south through eastern Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
to northeastern South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
and Angola
Angola
Angola, officially the Republic of Angola , is a country in south-central Africa bordered by Namibia on the south, the Democratic Republic of the Congo on the north, and Zambia on the east; its west coast is on the Atlantic Ocean with Luanda as its capital city...
. It is a very common species of open woodland that undertakes some seasonal movements
Bird migration
Bird migration is the regular seasonal journey undertaken by many species of birds. Bird movements include those made in response to changes in food availability, habitat or weather. Sometimes, journeys are not termed "true migration" because they are irregular or in only one direction...
.
Description
Starling
Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The name "Sturnidae" comes from the Latin word for starling, sturnus. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, are called mynas, and many African species are known as glossy starlings because of their iridescent...
is glossy blue-green with a purple-blue belly and blue ear patch. Its iris is bright yellow or orange. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile is duller and has blackish brown underparts.
The populations from southern Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
southwards are smaller than northern birds and are sometimes considered to be a separate subspecies, L. c. sycobius.
The Lesser Blue-eared Glossy-starling
Lesser Blue-eared Glossy-starling
The Lesser Blue-eared Glossy-starling or Lesser Blue-eared Starling is a species of starling in the Sturnidae family....
is very similar to this species, but the blue of the belly does not extend forward of the legs in that bird.
The Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling has a range of musical or grating calls, but the most familiar is a nasal squee-ar.
Breeding
The Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling nests in holes in trees, either natural or excavated by woodpeckerWoodpecker
Woodpeckers are near passerine birds of the order Piciformes. They are one subfamily in the family Picidae, which also includes the piculets and wrynecks. They are found worldwide and include about 180 species....
s or barbets
Lybiidae
The Lybiidae is a bird family containing the African barbets. They were usually united with their American and Asian relatives in the Capitonidae for quite some time, but this has been confirmed to be limited to the main American lineage. There are 42 species ranging from the type genus Lybius of...
. It will also nest inside the large stick nests of the Sacred Ibis
Sacred Ibis
The African Sacred Ibis is a species of ibis.-Description:An adult individual is 68 cm long with all-white body plumage apart from dark plumes on the rump. The bald head and neck, thick curved bill and legs are black. The white wings show a black rear border in flight...
or Abdim's Stork
Abdim's Stork
The Abdim's Stork, also known as White-bellied Stork, is a black stork with grey legs, red knees and feet, grey bill and white underparts. It has red facial skin in front of eye and blue skin near the bill in breeding season...
. The three to five eggs are greenish-blue with some brown or purple spots, and hatch in 13–14 days. The chicks leave the nest in another 23 days.
This species is parasitised
Brood parasite
Brood parasites are organisms that use the strategy of brood parasitism, a kind of kleptoparasitism found among birds, fish or insects, involving the manipulation and use of host individuals either of the same or different species to raise the young of the brood-parasite...
by the Great Spotted Cuckoo
Great Spotted Cuckoo
The Great Spotted Cuckoo is a member of the cuckoo order of birds, the Cuculiformes, which also includes the roadrunners, the anis and the coucals....
and occasionally the Greater Honeyguide
Greater Honeyguide
The Greater Honeyguide is a bird in the family Indicatoridae, paleotropical near passerine birds related to the woodpeckers. Its English and scientific names refer to its habit of guiding people to bee colonies....
Roosting
The Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling is highly gregarious and will form large flocks, often with other starlings. Its roosts, in reedbed, thorn bushes, or acaciaAcacia
Acacia is a genus of shrubs and trees belonging to the subfamily Mimosoideae of the family Fabaceae, first described in Africa by the Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus in 1773. Many non-Australian species tend to be thorny, whereas the majority of Australian acacias are not...
, may also be shared.
Feeding
Like other starlings, the Greater Blue-eared Glossy-starling is an omnivoreOmnivore
Omnivores are species that eat both plants and animals as their primary food source...
, taking a wide range of invertebrate
Invertebrate
An invertebrate is an animal without a backbone. The group includes 97% of all animal species – all animals except those in the chordate subphylum Vertebrata .Invertebrates form a paraphyletic group...
s seeds and berries, especially fig
Ficus
Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes, and hemiepiphyte in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The Common Fig Ficus is a genus of...
s, but is diet is mainly insect
Insect
Insects are a class of living creatures within the arthropods that have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body , three pairs of jointed legs, compound eyes, and two antennae...
s taken from the ground.
It will perch on livestock, feeding on insects disturbed by the animals and occasionally removing ectoparasites
Parasitism
Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between organisms of different species where one organism, the parasite, benefits at the expense of the other, the host. Traditionally parasite referred to organisms with lifestages that needed more than one host . These are now called macroparasites...
.