Violet-backed Starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster)

Other Names (World)
Violet-backed Starling, Plum-coloured Starling, Violet Starling, Amethyst Starling

Family
Sturnidae (Starlings)

Size
19 cm

First Described (Guide)
(Boddaert, 1783)

Habitat
Subtropical and tropical dry forest, dry savanna. From sea-level - 2,500 m.

Range (Guide)

Angola, Benin, Botswana, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], Congo [The Democratic Republic of the], C�te dIvoire, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Gabon, Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-bissau, Kenya, Liberia, Malawi, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Niger, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Somalia, South Africa, Sudan, Swaziland, Tanzania [United Republic of], Togo, Uganda, Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

Vagrant to Israel, Lesotho, Mauritania, United Arab Emirates.

Rarity Status
Currently this species is not classified as a rarity in this country OR information has not been updated.

Population
Estimated population is unknown (2010).

Status LC
For more information see BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Voice
Xeno-Canto Sound Files (more (39)...)

Violet-backed Starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster) [XC450950]
by Charles Hesse from Klerksdorp, Southern DC, North West, South Africa (call)

Violet-backed Starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster) [XC518609]
by Derek Solomon from Mkhuze Game Reserve, Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa (call)

Subspecies
Genus possibly close to Pholia.

The following 3 subspecies are recognised:

leucogaster (Boddaert, 1783) - Breeds from Senegal east, south of Sahara and north of equator, to Sudan, possibly also Eritrea, Ethiopia and north-western Somalia. Non-breeding also in coastal areas, Gabon, PRCongo and northern DRCongo, and south to Kenya.
arabicus Grant, CHB & Mackworth-Praed, 1942 - Breeds southern Arabian Peninsula (southern Yemen east to south-western Oman); probably also Eritrea, Djibouti, northern Ethiopia, eastern Sudan and north-western Somalia.
verreauxi (Finsch & Hartlaub, 1870) - Breeds from southern DRCongo and Angola south to central Namibia and, in east, from southern Kenya and western Tanzania south to Botswana, north-eastern South Africa, Swaziland and Mozambique; in non-breeding season more widespread.

References
See References.

Files:

JPG files for Violet-backed Starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster) - 10 files

More Information

BirdLife International

For more information about the Violet-backed Starling see... Show Articles

BirdLife International Species Factsheet.

Articles about the Violet-backed Starling

If you would like to read any articles about the Violet-backed Starling...

Show Articles (0)

No Pictures of Violet-backed Starling

If Birdpedia has no pictures of Violet-backed Starling or you would like to see more, then try the following...

Show External Images from BING

From BING (10)

No Videos of Violet-backed Starling

If Birdpedia has no videos of Violet-backed Starling or you would like to see more, then try the following..

Show External Videos

From BING (0)