Ashy Starling Lamprotornis unicolor Scientific name definitions

30 cm; 55–66 g. Medium-sized, slender, uniformly coloured starling with very long, narrow tail . Plumage is a uniform ashy grey , with oily-green sheen on remiges and rectrices , some cross-barring visible on rectrices; blackish mask on lores and around eye, often extending over ear-coverts; iris pale cream with maroon-brown to dark sepia-brown inner ring; bill and legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile is dull ashy brown with pale brown feather tips, iris dark brown, bill horn-coloured.

Diet largely insects; some fruit taken. Insects including termites (Isoptera), grasshoppers (Orthoptera), mantids (Mantodea), dragonflies (Odonata), lacewings (Neuroptera) and caterpillars (Lepidoptera); berries of Cordia and Commiphora found in some stomach contents; kitchen scraps eaten, including rice and porridge. Forages on ground , in pairs and small flocks.

Song of low conversational notes and harsher elements; often a repeated phrase. Alarm call a harsh "charr"; common contact call 2 squeaky notes, "kuri, kiwera"; also other longer calls.