White-shouldered Starling
Sturnia sinensis
Sturdy songbird of open farmlands and fields; can often be found fairly close to human habitation. Adult male has soft brown head and breast, bluish bill, and white belly. Female darker, with dirty brown extending from the head down to the back and belly. Both sexes have white rumps, black flight feathers, and bright white wing coverts. Often found in large flocks with other starlings. Notably smaller and stouter than many of the other starlings in its range.
Identification
The white-shouldered starling has blue eyes, a grey bill, and a white patch on the shoulder. The adult male has a light brown head and breast and a white belly while an adult female is darker brown on the back and belly. This bird is usually found in large flocks.
Taxonomy
The white-shouldered starling was formally described in 1788 by the German naturalist Johann Friedrich Gmelin in his revised and expanded edition of Carl Linnaeus's Systema Naturae. He placed it with the orioles in the genus Oriolus and coined the binomial name Oriolus sinensis. The specific epithet sinensis is Modern Latin for "Chinese". Gmelin based his description on "Le Kink" from China that had been described in 1775 by the French polymath the Comte de Buffon in his Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux. A hand-coloured engraving by François-Nicolas Martinet was published to accompany Buffon's text.<p>The white-shouldered starling was formerly placed in the genus Sturnus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008 found the genus was polyphyletic. In the reoganization to create monotypic genera, the white-shouldered starling was one of five starlings moved to the resurrected genus Sturnia that had been introduced in 1837 by René Lesson. The species is monotypic: no subspecies are recognised.
- Scientific name
- Sturnia sinensis
- Authority
- (Gmelin, JF, 1788)
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Sturnidae
- Genus
- Sturnia
Range and habitat
The bird can be found in Asian countries including Brunei, Cambodia, China, India, Japan, South Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Common names for the white-shouldered starling are gray-backed myna, Chinese myna, Chinese starling, and Mandarin myna.
- Migration
- Complete migrants
Conservation
The conservation status of the white-shouldered starling is that of "Least Concern".
- Population trend
- stable
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
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Dicaeum virescens
A tiny bird with a slim, dark, curved bill. The upperparts are olive-green, and the pale underparts have a smudge of yellow on the belly. Flits about restlessly in treetops in search of fruits and flowers. Usually solitary or in pairs. Hard to locate in the canopy, but its buzzy single-noted calls often give away its presence.
Pipipi
Mohoua novaeseelandiae
A small, noisy songbird endemic to New Zealand, found on the South and Stewart Islands. Favors myriad forest types. Note brown upperparts with an ashy-gray face and neck, and pale creamy-brown underparts. Often located first by its harsh chattering contact calls and canary-like song. Forms fast-moving flocks in the canopy that will come down to investigate “squeaking.” Associates with other species such as Silvereye and Gray Gerygone in the non-breeding season, forming noisy, continuously chattering flocks. Pipipi is the main host of the parasitic Long-tailed Koel, and so adults can be encountered feeding a much larger Koel chick. Distinguished from Dunnock by lighter underparts; does not feed on the ground. Look for sharp contrast between gray face and lighter underparts and larger size to distinguish from Gray Gerygone.
Many-colored Fruit-Dove
Ptilinopus perousii
A spectacular dove with a red crown and shawl, a white face, a yellow neck, a yellow back with gray chevrons, a gray uppertail, a red undertail, and a flecked red breast. Often found in pairs, but can gather in large groups at fruiting trees. Female similar to female Crimson-crowned Fruit-Dove, but has a less reddish cap and a darker green neck. Gives two commonly heard calls, a typical pigeon-like cooing phrase likened to the words “let it go, let it go,” and a series of cooing notes that rapid increases in speed like a marble dropped on a hard surface.
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