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White-headed Starling Sturnia erythropygia Scientific name definitions

Adrian J. F. Craig and C. J. Feare
Version: 1.0 — Published March 4, 2020
Text last updated January 1, 2009

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Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

20 cm. Small starling with much white in plumage. Nominate race has head to upper mantle and down to breast dirty white; lower mantle and back grey with purple tinge, rump and uppertail-coverts chestnut; wing black, green gloss on outer webs; tail black with green gloss, feathers with chestnut tips (broader on outer rectrices), outermost feathers almost wholly chestnut; lowermost breast and belly white, undertail-coverts chestnut; iris white, grey or bluish; bill yellow, small blue area at base; legs yellow. Sexes alike. Juvenile has head streaked brown, tawny fringes on wing-coverts. Race andamensis is greyer than nominate, with less gloss on wings, has rump grey, uppertail-coverts and vent buffy white, tail lacks chestnut, outer rectrices white; katchalensis resembles nominate, but has paler rump and uppertail-coverts (but rufous undertail-coverts).

Systematics History

Editor's Note: This article requires further editing work to merge existing content into the appropriate Subspecies sections. Please bear with us while this update takes place.

Three subspecies recognized.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Sturnia erythropygia erythropygia Scientific name definitions

Sturnia erythropygia erythropygia
S. e. erythropygia

Distribution

Car Nicobar, in N Nicobar Is.
SUBSPECIES

Sturnia erythropygia andamanensis Scientific name definitions

Sturnia erythropygia andamanensis
S. e. andamanensis

Distribution

Andaman Is.
SUBSPECIES

Sturnia erythropygia katchalensis Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Katchall I, in C Nicobar Is.

Distribution

Editor's Note: Additional distribution information for this taxon can be found in the 'Subspecies' article above. In the future we will develop a range-wide distribution article.

Habitat

Forest clearings, forest edge, secondary woodland and open areas, including grassland and cultivated areas.

Movement

Presumed resident.

Diet and Foraging

Diet includes fruit, nectar and insects. Forages in trees and shrubs; extracts Lepidoptera larvae from rolled bamboo leaves. Gregarious, forms flocks of varying sizes; joins mixed-species flocks of foraging insectivores which include drongos (Dicruridae) and cuckoo-shrikes and minivets (Campephagidae). Flocks roost communally in trees.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a loud series of disconnected notes of a very great variety of types, including musical notes, mimicry of calls of various other bird species, interminged with snarling and snorting notes, squawks and rattles.

Breeding

Season Mar–May. Nest of twigs, lined with green leaves, placed in tree hole 2–10 m above ground. Clutch 4 eggs, uniform blue. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Very common in Andaman Is; less common, but not uncommon, in Nicobars. Apparently not a forest specialist, but is restricted to islands, and could therefore become vulnerable.
Distribution of the White-headed Starling - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the White-headed Starling

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. and C. J. Feare (2020). White-headed Starling (Sturnia erythropygia), version 1.0. In Birds of the World (J. del Hoyo, A. Elliott, J. Sargatal, D. A. Christie, and E. de Juana, Editors). Cornell Lab of Ornithology, Ithaca, NY, USA. https://doi.org/10.2173/bow.whhsta2.01
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