Shelley's Starling Lamprotornis shelleyi Scientific name definitions

16 cm; 45 g. Has crown, chin, throat and upper breast glossy dark purple, matt black patch from lores to ear-coverts, narrow bronzy-green collar on nape; upper­parts dark glossy blue; wing bronze-green, lesser and median coverts dark blue, black subterminal spots on lesser, median and greater coverts, primaries dark purple on outer webs (attenuated on primaries P6-P8, but lack indentations on inner webs); tail glossy blue-green; underparts from lower breast down uniformly dark rufous-brown; iris orange-red; bill and legs black. Sexes alike. Juvenile has charcoal-grey upperparts, some gloss on wings and tail, pale chestnut-brown underparts, iris brown or grey-blue.

S & E Ethiopia and N Somalia, probably also SE South Sudan and N Kenya; non-breeding Ethiopia (except N part of the range), SE South Sudan, N & E Kenya, NE Tanzania and S Somalia.

Semi-arid bushed and wooded country, especially with Commiphora, from sea-level to c. 1300 m; generally below 1000 m in Kenya.

Few data. Perhaps more insectivorous than frugivorous; in Kenya, common along R Tana when Salvadora bushes fruiting. Forages on the ground less than do L. superbus and L. hildebrandti. In small flocks; outside breeding season, flocks of up to 100 and more individuals associate with nomadic Speculipastor bicolor.

Song  of short phrases combining whistles, nasal calls and scratchy sounds, described as a melange of L. superbus and White-browed Sparrow-weaver (Plocepasser mahali) songs. Contact call a disyllabic or trisyllabic "jaraanh".