Kenrick's Starling
Poeoptera kenricki
A small, slim dark starling. The eyes are brown, and females show chestnut patches in the wings in flight. Found in the canopy of montane forest, mostly at middle elevations, usually in small flocks which frequently gather at fruiting trees. Perches out conspicuously on dead snags and other open perches. Similar to Waller’s Starling, but smaller and slimmer, with brown rather than red eyes, and only females have reddish wing patches. Very similar to Stuhlmann’s Starling, but separated by range. The most common call is a simple “tweep.” Also gives a subdued chattering.
Identification
Kenrick's starling is a medium-sized bird with male weighing 50g and females weighing 38g. Like other birds in its genus, males are a glossy black colour and females are an ashy grey. Females also possess chestnut-coloured primary feathers, which are most easily seen during flight. It can be differentiated from Stuhlmann's starling mainly by range, with the two being separated by the Rift Valley. Kenrick's starling also has a yellow eye as compared to the slaty one of Stuhlmann's starling, although this feature is not always apparent in the field. The two subspecies differ slightly in morphology, with P. k. bensoni being larger, with a heavier bill, and a more noticeable change in colour between the lower and upper breast than P. k. kenricki.
Taxonomy
Kenrick's starling was described by George Ernest Shelley in 1894 and was named after Major Reginald Watkin Edward-Kenrick, an officer in the British army who collected the holotype in the Usambara Mountains in Tanzania. Shelley placed the starling in the obsolete genus Stillbopsar, which was composed of it alongside Stuhlmann's starling. It is now placed in the genus Poeoptera, meaning "poet bird" in Greek, with Poeo being a variation of the Greek poiéō which means "to create" - being the origin of poema, the Latin word for poem - and ptera coming from the pterá which means wing. Up until the mid 20th century, some authorities considered it conspecific with Stuhlmann's starling, or treated it as one single subspecies. There are currently two recognized subspecies:
- Scientific name
- Poeoptera kenricki
- Authority
- Shelley, 1894
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Sturnidae
- Genus
- Poeoptera
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Behavior
Migration pattern: Resident species.
Conservation
Population trend: declining.
- Population trend
- declining
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
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