Starlings Galore

Although this Golden-Breasted starling doesn't occur "naturally" in South Africa, it is a "resident" in some of our birdparks like e.g. in World of Birds near Plettenberg Bay. Its natural home is in East Africa.



This Redwinged (female) starling certainly is a common resident in mostly the more eastern & southern parts of SA.



In contrast but the similarly-looking Palewinged starlings are found in the drier, western parts of SA & in Namibia (where this photo "originated" at Twyfelfontein).




The European starling, occuring mostly along the southern, coastal parts of SA, is an "introduced" (instead of an indigenous) starling-species.




Likewise, the Indian Myna is an introduced starling-species (= as it name stipulates, this bird "arrived" from India) & is now classified as a very common/abundant resident mainly along the coastal areas of KwaZulu-Natal & around Johannesburg.


Amongst the glossy starlings, the Greater Blue-Eared glossy starling is an indigenous species occuring mostly in the northern & eastern part of our country, and is a very common resident in the Kruger National park.


Another member of the glossy starlings is what I think of as quite an impressive & colourful bird - the Burchell's glossy starling, which more or less shares the same habitat as the glossy starling (above).




The Plum-Coloured starling is only a fairly common resident during summer in the northern & eastern parts of our country.





The Wattled starling is a quite rare resident, although it can be found right across our country.




When I "met" this bird, a Pied starling, for the very first time, I mistakenly thought it was an Indian Myna (SEE: above), but once I "examined" it more closely, I realised it was this quite common resident in most parts (except in the "far north") of our country.




Similar to the first bird (SEE: above) this Superb starling is a resident in East Africa - or can be found in bird parks in our country.