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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.
 
© Richard Grant
Male
Kruger Gate, Kruger NP, Jan 2010
Photo Richard Grant (D)
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GEOGRAPHICAL VARIATION: Mainly in colour of outer rectrices in male, and in size. Subspp: Africa 2, s Africa 1.

1. C. l. verreauxi (Bocage), 1870, in Finsch & Hartlaub's Vög. Ost-Afr., p867; Caconda, Huíla, Angola. Larger than nominate. Male differs in having white bases to outer webs of T6. Throughout the species' range in s Africa. (Described under Identification.)
Breeding Migrant
 
© Hugh Chittenden
© Alan Knott-Craig
Male race verreauxi
Eshowe, KwaZulu-Natal, Dec 2008
Photo Hugh Chittenden (D) 		Female race verreauxi
Zebula, Limpopo, Nov 2008
Photo Alan Knott-Craig (D)
 
MEASUREMENTS: C. l. verreauxi wing (10 male) 104-112 (108), (10 female) 95-105 (100); tail (10 male) 61-66 (63), (10 female) 54-60 (58); tarsus (10 male) 21.5-23.7 (22.6), (10 female) 21.4-23.0 (22.4); culmen (10 male) 17.0-19.0 (18.4), (10 female) 17.0-18.6 (18.0); mass (10 male) 39-50 (44.4), (8 female) 39-56 (44.7)6.
 
MOULT: Ads undergo post-br wing moult Dec-May; some suspend during migration. Body moult follows completion of wing moult8,26. In Zimbabwe, overwintering birds (Jul) had new flight feathers and were in heavy body moult3. Post-juv moult incomplete, mostly of contour feathers, but may include some secondaries. Young have first complete moult at 13-14 mo, when male acquires ad plumage8,26.
 
CONSERVATION: Not threatened. Many br sites in protected areas.

Author:AJFK Craig
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