Explore Taxonomy
Order
Passeriformes
Family
Sturnidae
Genus
Lamprotornis
Surprise Me
Previous Emerald Starling
Next Cape Starling
- Purple Starling
© James Kennerley
- Purple Starling
- Purple Starling
+2
- Purple Starling
- Purple Starling
- Purple Starling
Watch
- Purple Starling
Listen

Purple Starling Lamprotornis purpureus Scientific name definitions

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

Sign in to see your badges

Originally Appeared in

HBW Alive

Field Identification

27 cm; 91–140 g. Large glossy starling with short tail and relatively large bill; eye often appears large. Has forehead and crown purple, lores black, nape and hindcrown-band to back of eye blue with some purple gloss; mantle and back blue-green, rump purple; wing blue-green, dark spots on tips of coverts, and blue-and-violet patch forming epaulet; tail purple, two outermost rectrices have blue outer webs; chin, throat and entire underparts to undertail-coverts purple; iris yolk-yellow; bill and legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile is matt grey, except for gloss on wings and tail (in captivity, first glossy plumage appeared at three months); iris grey, later greenish-yellow.

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 Cameroon E to W Kenya often separated as race amethystinus (described from S Sudan), supposedly somewhat bluer above and slightly longer-tailed than those in W of range; further study required. Treated as monotypic.

Subspecies

SUBSPECIES

Lamprotornis purpureus purpureus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Senegal to Cameroon
SUBSPECIES

Lamprotornis purpureus amethystinus Scientific name definitions

Distribution

Cameroon to western Kenya

Distribution

Senegambia, extreme S Mauritania (1), Guinea-Bissau, S Mali and N Guinea E (mainly in savanna belt) to S Chad, N Central African Republic, SW Sudan, South Sudan, Uganda and W Kenya.

Habitat

Open savanna woodland N of forested zone, open areas with scattered bushes and trees, also in burnt and cultivated areas; up to 1500 m.

Movement

Presumed resident, as present throughout year in most areas; local movements likely, as in e.g. Ivory Coast, where birds move S during dry season. Vagrant in S Mauritania and Liberia.

Diet and Foraging

Diet fruit, nectar and insects. Fruits of Ficus and Zizyphus, and of exotic neem (Azadirachta indica); nectar of Bombax costatum and Ceiba pentandra; termites (Isoptera), caterpillars (Lepidoptera) and ants (Formicidae) noted in stomach contents. Forages both in trees and bushes and on ground, often in company with other glossy starlings; hawks insects from trees. Communal roosts in non-breeding season may contain thousands of individuals.

Sounds and Vocal Behavior

Song, noted from flocks in trees during heat of day, a sustained chatter. Flight call "twee-twee"; contact call "squee caree"; alarm call "shree".

Breeding

Season Apr–Jul in Gambia, Ghana and Nigeria, Mar–May in Sudan, and Feb–Apr in Uganda. Nest in tree hole, sometimes under house eaves or in drainpipe (in Ghana); in captivity, lining of dry grass and leaves in nestbox, and green leaf fragments added even after young hatched. Clutch 2–3 eggs, pale blue, finely speckled with reddish-brown; in captivity, incubation by female only, nestlings fed by both adults; incubation by female only, period 13 days from laying of last egg; nestling period 25 days, nestlings fed by both adults, who squashed insect food before passing it to chicks, and fed young for at least one week after fledging. Captive female mated with male L. chalybaeus; two young hatched, but not raised successfully.

Conservation Status

Conservation status on Birdlife LC Least Concern
Not globally threatened. Locally common to abundant; perhaps the most abundant glossy starling in parts of W Africa; uncommon in extreme E of range (W Kenya). During early years of 20th century, was one of the species collected on a large scale for the bird-plumage trade in Europe.
Distribution of the Purple Starling - Range Map
Enlarge
  • Year-round
  • Migration
  • Breeding
  • Non-Breeding
Distribution of the Purple Starling

eBird and Macaulay Library

Recommended Citation

Craig, A. J. F. and C. J. Feare (2020). Purple Starling (Lamprotornis purpureus), 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.pugsta1.01
Birds of the World

Partnerships

A global alliance of nature organizations working to document the natural history of all bird species at an unprecedented scale.

American Ornithological Society American Ornithilogical Society Armonia Bolivia Aves Argentinas Avibase Aves Uruguay Birds Caribbean Bird Count India Conservación de Islas Corbidi Fundación Ñankulafkén Instituto Humboldt Lynx Edicions Oikonos Oriental Bird Club Ornithological Society Of The Middle East The Caucasus And Central Asia RED DE OBSERVADORES DE AVES Y VIDA SILVESTRE DE CHILE Roberts Birds Save Brasil Taiwan Biodiversity Research Institute Union Venezolana De Ornitologos