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A photo of a Chestnut-tailed Starling (Sturnia malabarica)
Chestnut-tailed Starling

Chestnut-tailed Starling

Sturnia malabarica

The chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica), also called grey-headed starling and grey-headed myna is a member of the starling family. It is a resident or partially migratory species found in wooded habitats in India and Southeast Asia. The species name is after the distribution of a former subspecies in the Malabar region. While the chestnut-tailed starling is a winter visitor to peninsular India, the closely related resident breeding population with a white head is now treated as a full species, the Malabar starling (Sturnia blythii). The adults have a total length of approximately 20 cm. They have grey upperparts and blackish remiges, but the colour of the remaining plumage depends on the subspecies. In the nominate subspecies and blythii, the underparts (incl. undertail) are rufous, but in nemoricola the underparts are whitish tinged rufous, especially on the flanks and crissum (the undertail coverts surrounding the cloaca). The nominate and nemoricola have a light grey head with whitish streaking (especially on crown and collar region). Both subspecies have white irises and a yellow bill with a pale blue base. The sexes are similar, but juveniles have whitish underparts and just chestnut tips to the tail feathers.
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Chestnut-tailed Starlings on Birda

Photos

Sightings

A map showing the sighting location
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Chonseng N Sangma
Saturday 13 May 2023 - 6:34am
India
A map showing the sighting location
🦚
Chonseng N Sangma
Friday 28 Apr 2023 - 2:14am
India
A map showing the sighting location
🦢
Hemant Kirola
Sunday 16 Apr 2023 - 5:00am
India
A map showing the sighting location
🦢
Hemant Kirola
Saturday 15 Apr 2023 - 3:59pm
India
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