Thank you for your interest in Roberts Online. This page is intended to be viewed online and may not be printed.

© SA Birding cc

 

Violet-backed Starling

Cinnyricinclus leucogaster   Witborsspreeu
Turdus leucogaster Boddaert, 1783, Tabl. Pl. Enlum., p39; no locality = Ouidah (Benin), vide Gmelin, 1789, Syst. Nat., 1(2):819. leucogaster (Gr) = white belly.
 
© Albert Froneman
Male with invertebrate prey
Photo Albert Froneman
<<Previous Page Next Page>>
GENERAL HABITS: In pairs or family groups when br, but generally in flocks < 20 birds, sometimes sexually segregated; seldom forms large groups or roosts communally13. Largely arboreal.

FORAGING & FOOD: Insects taken off branches or hawked in flight, incl termite alates5. Also eats fruits of stinkwoods (Celtis spp), Cats whiskers Rotheca myricoides23, Shepherds-Tree Boscia albitrunca, mistletoes (Tapinanthus oleifolius13 and T. leendertziae12), and Mulberry Morus alba16.

Author:AJFK Craig
© Richard Peek
Largely arboreal
Stone Hills, Zimbabwe
Photo Richard Peek (D)
 
© Hugh Chittenden
© Hugh Chittenden
Male with termite prey
Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo Hugh Chittenden (D) 		Female with termite prey
Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, Dec 2008
Photo Hugh Chittenden (D)
© Hugh Chittenden
© Hugh Chittenden
Female with invertebrate prey
Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo Hugh Chittenden (D) 		Female tree fruit Litsea glutinosa
Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, Dec 2008
Photo Hugh Chittenden (D)
© Hugh Chittenden
© Graham Kearney
Male with fig fruit
Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal
Photo Hugh Chittenden (D) 		Female with fruit
Photo Graham Kearney (D)
 
<<Previous Page Back to Top Next Page>>