From Opus

Aplonis dichroa

Alternative name: San Cristobal Starling

[edit] Identification

20cm. A rather small Starling.

• Mostly blackish plumage, glossy purple green on crown, throat and upper breast, dark brown on mantle and rump
• Tawny brown remiges, paler when worn
• Dark brown tail
• Red eye (sometimes orange or tawny)
• Black bill and legs

Sexes similar. Juveniles are browner and less glossy.

[edit] Distribution

Endemic to San Cristobal (Makira) in the southeast Solomon Islands.
Fairly common but with a tiny global range.

[edit] Taxonomy

A monotypic species.
May form a superspecies with Brown-winged Starling and was also considered conspecific.

[edit] Habitat

Forest, especially secondary forest. Least common on coast.

[edit] Behaviour

Feed on fruit. Usually seen in small groups of 3 - 8 birds, sometimes in flocks of up to 30 birds.
A monogamous species, breeding solitary. The nest is spherical and made of sticks. It's placed in dense forest subcanopy.
A resident species.

[edit] References

1. Clements, JF. 2009. The Clements Checklist of Birds of the World. 6th ed., with updates to December 2009. Ithaca: Cornell Univ. Press. ISBN 978-0801445019.
2. 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