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Bronze-tailed Starling Lamprotornis chalcurus 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

21 cm; 63 g. Fairly large, green-looking starling with short tail. Fore­head, crown, nape and mantle are iridescent blue-green, lores black, back and rump blue with purple tinge; ear-coverts purple; wing blue-green, coverts and tertial with dark blue tips, bend of wing with blue-and-purple epaulet, inner webs of primaries P6-P9 with indentation; tail purple with bronzy gloss and faint barring, outermost rectrices blue; chin, throat, breast, thighs and undertail-coverts blue-green, belly purple; iris yellow; bill and legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile is blackish with slight blue tinge above, dull sooty black below, rectrices greenish, iris dark.

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.

Populations from N Cameroon E to W Kenya often separated as race emini (described from Uganda), supposedly somewhat more violet on rump and slightly longer-tailed than those in W of range; variation, however, appears to be clinal, and further study required. Treated as monotypic.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Lamprotornis chalcurus chalcurus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Senegal and Guinea Bissau to n Cameroon
SUBSPECIES

Lamprotornis chalcurus emini Scientific name definitions

Distribution

eastern Cameroon to southwestern Sudan, South Sudan, extreme northeastern Democratic Republic of the Congo, northern Uganda, and extreme western Kenya

Distribution

Senegambia, N Guinea-Bissau, S Mali, N Guinea, N Ivory Coast and S Burkina Faso E (mainly in savanna belt) to S Chad, Central African Republic, SW Sudan, W & SW South Sudan, Uganda and W Kenya.

Habitat

Open bushed and wooded country, also cultivated areas around villages and suburbs, mainly in lowlands; in E of range 500–2000 m, in Kenya above 1000 m and in regions of high rainfall.

Movement

Mainly resident. Status in some places unclear; described as a migrant in Sudan, present Sept–Apr; also evidence of seasonal movements in Ghana, and transient flocks in Gambia Oct–Nov.

Diet and Foraging

Stomach contents of specimens contained insects and fruits; second-hand report of scavenging from meat at abattoirs. Forages mostly on ground, less so in trees. In pairs when breeding; at other times in flocks, sometimes quite large ones, and associates with both L. chalybaeus and L. chloropterus.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song a combination of nasal, chattering and whistled elements, often in chorus. Contact call "ju-wee-yurr". Loud wing noise in flight.

Breeding

Breeding reported in Aug in Senegal, May–Jun in Nigeria, Feb–Mar in NE DRCongo and Apr in Kenya. Nest a lining of grass, leaves and feathers in tree hole or stump. Clutch up to 4 eggs, plain pale blue, or finely speckled with orange-brown; incubation apparently by female. No other information.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Poorly documented, as often not separable in the field from similar congeners (especially L. chloropterus). Appears to be locally common to uncommon in much of range; generally uncommon in E (NE DRCongo, Uganda, W Kenya).
Distribution of the Bronze-tailed Starling - Range Map
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  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Bronze-tailed Starling

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. and C. J. Feare (2020). Bronze-tailed Starling (Lamprotornis chalcurus), 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.btgsta1.01
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