From Opus

Photo by Shailesh Patel
Gatamaiyu Forest, Kenya, November 2005

Cinnyricinclus femoralis

Pholia femoralis

[edit] Identification

16-18 cm. A small and distinctive Starling.

• Blue-back head, upperparts, chin, throat and breast
• Creamy white belly, flanks and undertail-coverts
• Whitish eye
• Black bill and legs

Sexes similar. Juveniles are dark grey above, have a yellowish wash on throat and breast and a dark brown eye.

[edit] Distribution

South-central Kenya and northern Tanzania.
Rare in its small range and classified as Vulnerable in the 2008 IUCN Red List due to loss of habitat.¹

[edit] Taxonomy

This is a monotypic species which is placed in genus Cinnyricinclus^3,4,5, Pholia^2,6 or Poeoptera.
Has been suggested to form a superspecies with Sharpe's Starling.

[edit] Habitat

Mid-altitude and montane forest. Occurs from 1800m to 2600m, sometimes up to 2800m.

[edit] Behaviour

Feeds on fruits and insects. Forages in small flocks, mainly in the canopy. Breeding recorded in February, March and October. The nest is placed in a tree hole. A resident species with some local movements.

[edit] References

1. BirdLife International. 2008. Species factsheet: Cinnyricinclus femoralis. Downloaded from http://www.birdlife.org on 30/11/2008.
2. Clements, JF. 2008. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2008. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019. Spreadsheet available at http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist.
3. Dickinson, EC, ed. 2003. The Howard and Moore Complete Checklist of the Birds of the World. 3rd ed., with updates to December 2007 (Corrigenda 7). Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691117010
4. Gill, F and M Wright. 2008. Birds of the World: Recommended English Names. Princeton University Press, Princeton NJ, USA. 2006. ISBN 9780691128276. Update (2008) downloaded from http://worldbirdnames.org/names.html.
5. Sibley, CG and BL Monroe. 1996. Birds of the World, on diskette, Windows version 2.0. Charles G. Sibley, Santa Rosa, CA, USA.
6. Sinclair, I and P Ryan. 2003. Birds of Africa South of the Sahara. Princeton: Princeton Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0691118154
7. Del Hoyo, J, A Elliott, and D Christie, eds. 2009. Handbook of the Birds of the World. Volume 14: Bush-shrikes to Old World Sparrows. Barcelona: Lynx Edicions. ISBN 978-8496553507

• List of references

[edit] External Links