White-headed Starling
Sturnia erythropygia
A distinctive starling with white head, white breast, and gray back. Note the yellow legs and pale bill. The vent, outer tail feathers, and lower back are grayish-white on birds in the Andamans and reddish-brown on birds in the Nicobars. An active species that usually occurs in flocks with other starlings and insectivores in plantations, paddyfields, open woodlands, and forest edges.
Taxonomy
The white-headed starling was formerly placed in the genus Sturnus. A molecular phylogenetic study published in 2008 found that the genus was polyphyletic. In the reoganization to create monotypic genera, the white-headed starling was one of five starlings moved to the resurrected genus Sturnia that had been introduced in 1837 by René Lesson.<p>Three subspecies are recognised:
- Scientific name
- Sturnia erythropygia
- Authority
- Blyth, 1846
- Order
- Passeriformes
- Family
- Sturnidae
- Genus
- Sturnia
Range and habitat
- Migration
- Resident species
Conservation
- Population trend
- unknown
Photos
Distribution
Bird Calls
Other Birds
African Skimmer
Rynchops flavirostris
Distinctive tern-like bird with long wings, a short tail, and a bizarre bill in which the upper mandible is shorter than the lower mandible. In slow flight, shows a very white underwing and a white stripe along the back of the upperwing. Feeds by skimming its knife-like lower mandible through the water and snapping up small fish that it makes contact with. Found very locally on sandbars in lakes and rivers. Call is a husky “chep.”
Oriole Warbler
Hypergerus atriceps
A large warbler with a long tail and bill. Odd and unique, with a somewhat oriole-like coloration: a black hood with white scaling, an olive-green back, and yellow underparts. With a good view, cannot be confused with any other bird. Prefers gallery forest in areas near water, though also found along rainforest edge and in plantations and mangroves. A skulking bird that is usually detected by the male’s song: an exuberant series of loud whistles, given in a variable, robin-like pattern. The female sometimes accompanies this song with low chattering scolds.
Choco Sirystes
Sirystes albogriseus
A medium-sized flycatcher, reminiscent of a mix between a becard and a Myiarchus flycatcher. Uncommon to rare in lowlands and foothills from eastern Panama to northwest Ecuador. Gray above and white below with a dark cap and black wings with bold white edging. More slender-bodied and longer-tailed than a becard. Occurs in open areas, second-growth, and forest edge, often perching conspicuously in the middle to upper levels.
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