White-faced Starling Sturnornis albofrontatus Scientific name definitions

20 cm. Smallish starling with pied plumage, feathers of crown, nape and upper mantle elongate and hackled. Has forehead, side of head, throat and chin white (sometimes tinged grey); crown, nape and upper mantle dull grey-black, feathers with white shafts (producing white streaking); rest of upperparts, including upperwing and tail, black with slight greenish gloss; breast, upper belly and flanks brownish-grey, tinged with lavender, feathers white-shafted (producing streaking), lower belly and undertail-coverts dirty white; iris brown with grey outer ring, or white with red-brown inner ring, or white; sometimes bluish bare skin around eye; bill greyish-green to horn, base blue-grey; legs lead-grey. Sexes alike. Juvenile is browner above than adult, has indistinct dark eyestripe, greyer below, lacks white streaking on breast.

SW Sri Lanka.

Undisturbed rainforest; also visits fruiting trees in adjacent areas and in villages within forest. From c. 400 m to 1220 m, mostly below 1000 m.

Presumed resident; may cover long distances between feeding and roosting areas.

Diet mainly fruit; also takes nectar and insects. Recorded items are berries of Cinnamomum and fruit of figs (Ficus), and nectar from Bombax and Grevillea. Arboreal; forages in forest canopy. In pairs and in small groups; often in large mixed-species flocks.

Song described as soft and sweet. Calls reported include sharp, high, downslurred "cheéwp" with strong emphasis at end, transcribed also as "cheow"; "chirp" also reported.

Season Apr–Aug. Nest in tree hole; either no nesting material or female places a few twigs in hole. One recorded clutch, of 2 pale blue eggs. No other information.

VULNERABLE. Rare. Has very small global range, confined to wet zone of SW Sri Lanka; estimated total population fewer than 10,000 individuals and declining; population and habitat severely fragmented as a result of degradation and clearance of humid forest. As a canopy-dwelling species, it has suffered severely from the effects of selective logging. Legally protected and present in several national parks and forest reserves, notably Sinharaja National Heritage Wilderness Area.