Different starlings (1 Viewer)

Does anyone have a good link that will help to differentiate the different starlings in Southen Africa ... I struggle with them.

No link that I know of, but I would be happy to help if you have any particular questions on the ID's of these? Usually by looking at distribution and habitat you should be able to eliminate several species. The calls also vary, so that could also help.

safariranger said:

No link that I know of, but I would be happy to help if you have any particular questions on the ID's of these? Usually by looking at distribution and habitat you should be able to eliminate several species. The calls also vary, so that could also help.

Click to expand...

Hey Safariranger ... glad to see you are in Nelspruit. I lived in Steiltes for 5 years and still miss it every single day.

If you could help that would be great ... I will tell you what I struggle with in the field:
1. Between the Meaves and the Burchell's the tail is the obvious difference but unless you see them side-by-side (or within a few hours/days of each other) you can't easily tell them apart. I know in Satara area there are lots of Burchell's and the north (Pafuri) is probably Meaves ... but that is no guarantee - right?

2. In the field and because of their glossy feathers it is not easy to tell the difference quickly between Cape, Blue-eared and Black-bellied. The way I would tell them apart is:
Cape = Glossy belly, no ear patch
Blue eared = Glossy belly, ear patch
Black-bellied = Matt belly (not so obvious), no ear patch

Is there an easier way?

Thanks
Victor

Victor Soares said:

Hey Safariranger ... glad to see you are in Nelspruit. I lived in Steiltes for 5 years and still miss it every single day.

If you could help that would be great ... I will tell you what I struggle with in the field:
1. Between the Meaves and the Burchell's the tail is the obvious difference but unless you see them side-by-side (or within a few hours/days of each other) you can't easily tell them apart. I know in Satara area there are lots of Burchell's and the north (Pafuri) is probably Meaves ... but that is no guarantee - right?

2. In the field and because of their glossy feathers it is not easy to tell the difference quickly between Cape, Blue-eared and Black-bellied. The way I would tell them apart is:
Cape = Glossy belly, no ear patch
Blue eared = Glossy belly, ear patch
Black-bellied = Matt belly (not so obvious), no ear patch

Is there an easier way?

Thanks
Victor

Click to expand...

Hi Victor,

Yes Nelspruit is such a great place to live in. A lot of awesome birds and with the Kruger on my doorstep I really am spoilt.

So the big thing with Meve’s and Burchells Starlings in the Kruger is that they typically occur in different areas. Burchells in the central and southern Kruger and Meve’s right up north. If however you were in an area where the two species overlapped then experience with the two would definitely help. Meve’s is a more slender looking starling while Burchells just look chunkier and bigger. Meve’s of course also has a distinctly longer tail which is also pointed and not square/rounded as in Burchells.

With the glossy starlings, Cape and Greater Blue-eared regularly occur together. Besides the blue ear patch to me the easier way to differentiate between the two is overall appearance. Greater Blue-eared is a much more neater looking bird with an exquisite sheen/gloss that mostly shows as green. Cape Glossy, has a ‘bluer’ look and not the same neat looking feathers. The other clincher is the call. The nasal-like call of the Gbe can quickly be picked out.
As for Black-bellied, these birds typically are only seen in the very south-eastern corner of the park and prefer tall trees in riverine habitat. Some care needs to be taken to see the black belly, but again their call is very different from the above two and is usually the first thing that alerts a person to their presence.
At this stage it is still not a commonly seen species in the Kruger Park.

I hope that helps?

Regards

Robert

Hi Robert,

Are you able to help with these 3 please ... they are deffinitely different birds but not sure if they are different species.

If I was to try I would say:
A = Cape Glossy
B = Greater Blue Eared
C = Black-bellied or GBE or Burchell's ??

Victor Soares said:

Hi Robert,

Are you able to help with these 3 please ... they are deffinitely different birds but not sure if they are different species.

If I was to try I would say:
A = Cape Glossy
B = Greater Blue Eared
C = Black-bellied or GBE or Burchell's ??

Click to expand...

Hi Victor,

You are correct with A and B, C is an immature Burchell’s Starling.

Regards

Robert

Hi to all,

as someone rather new to birding, this is my first post on this forum ... I hope it's in the right thread!

I recently spent a three-week vacation in South Africa and in Colchester (close to Addo Elephant National Park) I took these picture of a Starling which I can't identify. With its dark eyes I'd say it's a Burchell's Starling, just that the app Merlin Bird ID tells me it that it only appears further north. The picture was taken on 10 March of this year.

Could anyone help in identifying it?

Many thanks in advance and best regards!
Tim