Magpie Starling
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The Magpie Starling, Speculipastor bicolor is 6.5-7.5"
Physical Description
A gregarious nomadic pied starling of dry brush and thorn-scrub in n. and e. Kenya. White patches at base of primaries obvious in flight. Male shiny blue-black on upperparts, head and upper breast; mostly white below; eyes blood-red. Female dull blackish above with dark grey crown; dark grey throat is separated from white belly by a glossy black breast band;eyes red or orange-red. Juvenile brown with white belly; eyes brown, becoming orange-red in immature. Exceptional young birds are entirely white below, including chin and throat.Song
A prolonged soft babbling quereeeh quaaa kereek quak-quak, suaaaa, cherak-chik-chak...mixed higher harsh notes.References
- BirdLife International (2004). [Speculipastor bicolor]. 2006 IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. Retrieved on 12 May 2006. Database entry includes justification for why this species is of least concern
- Dale A. Zimmerman, Birds of Kenya and Northern Tanzania, Princeton University Press, 1999
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