Alternative name: Supple-tailed Glossy-Starling
- Lamprotornis caudatus
Identification
40 - 50cm (including tail of up to 33cm). A large glossy starling with a very long tail.
- Blue-green crown, side of head and chin with bronze sheen
- Blue-green gloss on nape, mantle and back
- Blue-violet rump with purple gloss
- Blue-green wing with prominent black spots near tips of scapulars and wing-coverts
- Purple tail with dark barring, very long, strongly graduated and rectrices paired in step-like fashion
- Blue-violet underparts with central bronzy patch
- Creamy-white eye
- Black bill and legs
Sexes similar. Juveniles have no gloss and a dark iris.
Distribution
Occurs in a narrow band from extreme southern Mauritania to northern Guinea east to southern Sudan and northwestern South Sudan.
Common in most parts of its range.
Taxonomy
This is a monotypic species.
Forms a superspecie with Rueppell's Glossy-Starling and Meves's Glossy-Starling.
Habitat
Open woodland and cultivation.
Behaviour
Feeds on fruit and insects.
Forages mainly on the ground, hopping and walking.
Often leader of mixed-species flocks with Northern Red-billed Hornbill, Eurasian Hoopoe, Senegal Coucal and Yellow-billed Shrike.
Breeds monogamous but in a group. The nest is placed in a tree hole. Lays 3 - 4 eggs.
A resident species with some local movements.
References
- Clements, J. F., T. S. Schulenberg, M. J. Iliff, D. Roberson, T. A. Fredericks, B. L. Sullivan, and C. L. Wood. 2017. The eBird/Clements checklist of birds of the world: v2017, with updates to August 2017. Downloaded from http://www.birds.cornell.edu/clementschecklist/download/
- 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
Recommended Citation
- BirdForum Opus contributors. (2024) Long-tailed Glossy Starling. In: BirdForum, the forum for wild birds and birding. Retrieved 25 April 2024 from https://www.birdforum.net/opus/Long-tailed_Glossy_Starling
External Links
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