BIRDWALKERMONDAY: SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor)

Showing posts with label SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor). Show all posts

Monday, 14 April 2025

14-4-2025 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor)

The Spotless Starling, known scientifically as Sturnus unicolor, is a member of the starling family, Sturnidae. It bears a striking resemblance to its cousin, the Common Starling, but is distinguished by its slightly larger size, measuring 21-23 cm in length and weighing between 70-100 grams. Its plumage is a glossy, oily black, which may exhibit purple or green iridescence under bright light. Notably, during the spring and summer, its feathers are completely devoid of spots, while in winter, it sports only minuscule pale spots.

To identify the Spotless Starling, look for its longer throat feathers, which are double the length of those on the Common Starling, creating a pronounced "beard" especially visible when the bird vocalizes. Its legs are a vivid pink, and the bill color changes with the seasons: yellow with a bluish or pinkish base in summer, and a duller, often blackish hue in winter. Juveniles present a dull brown plumage, darker than their common counterparts, with a black bill and brown legs.

The Spotless Starling is quite adaptable, inhabiting a variety of open environments from farmlands and olive groves to urban areas. It thrives particularly well in open grazed holm oak woods and in cities like Gibraltar, where it is a common sight.

This bird has a more restricted range compared to the Common Starling, being native to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia. It is largely sedentary, with its population having expanded northward in recent decades.

The Spotless Starling is a sociable creature, often seen in sizeable flocks that can number up to 100,000 in the winter months. These flocks may include Common Starlings as well. It exhibits a strong, direct flight and, like its relative, walks rather than hops.

A vocal bird, the Spotless Starling is an accomplished mimic. Its calls are reminiscent of the Common Starling but are notably louder.

As a cavity-nesting species, the Spotless Starling makes its home in tree holes, buildings, and cliff crevices. It typically lays a clutch of three to five eggs.

An omnivorous bird, the Spotless Starling's diet includes a wide array of invertebrates, berries, and human-provided food scraps.

Saturday, 30 March 2024

30-3-2024 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor)

The spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor ) is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is closely related to the common starling (S. vulgaris ), but has a much more restricted range, confined to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. It is largely non-migratory.

The adult spotless starling is very similar to the common starling, but marginally larger (21–23 cm length; 70–100 g weight), and has darker, oily-looking black plumage, slightly purple- or green-glossed in bright light, which is entirely spotless in spring and summer, and only with very small pale spots in winter plumage, formed by the pale tips of the feathers. It also differs in having conspicuously longer throat feathers (twice the length of those on common starlings), forming a shaggy "beard" which is particularly obvious when the bird is singing. Its legs are bright pink. In summer, the bill is yellow with a bluish base in males and a pinkish base in females; in winter, it is duller, often blackish. Young birds are dull brown, darker than young common starlings, and have a black bill and brown legs. Confusion with the common starling is particularly easy during the winter, when common starlings are abundant throughout the spotless starling's range, but also in summer where their breeding ranges overlap in northeastern Spain and the far south of France. It can also be confused with the common blackbird (Turdus merula ), which differs most obviously in its longer tail and lack of plumage gloss.

Like the common starling, it walks rather than hops, and has a strong direct flight, looking triangular-winged and short-tailed. It is a noisy bird and a good mimic; its calls are similar to the common starling's, but louder.

Thursday, 21 March 2024

21-3-2024 BONAIRE, VALENCIA - SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor) NIKON P900

Saturday, 13 January 2024

13-1-2024 RIO SERPIS GANDIA, VALENCIA - SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor)

The spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is closely related to the common starling (S. vulgaris), but has a much more restricted range, confined to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. It is largely non-migratory.

Subsequent to the recent split of the genus Sturnus, this species and the common starling are the only species retained in the genus. Hybrids with the common starling are found occasionally where the breeding ranges overlap in southwestern France and northeastern Spain.

The adult spotless starling is very similar to the common starling, but marginally larger (21–23 cm length; 70–100 g weight), and has darker, oily-looking black plumage, slightly purple- or green-glossed in bright light, which is entirely spotless in spring and summer, and only with very small pale spots in winter plumage, formed by the pale tips of the feathers. It also differs in having conspicuously longer throat feathers (twice the length of those on common starlings), forming a shaggy "beard" which is particularly obvious when the bird is singing. Its legs are bright pink. In summer, the bill is yellow with a bluish base in males and a pinkish base in females; in winter, it is duller, often blackish. Young birds are dull brown, darker than young common starlings, and have a black bill and brown legs. Confusion with the common starling is particularly easy during the winter, when common starlings are abundant throughout the spotless starling's range, but also in summer where their breeding ranges overlap in northeastern Spain and the far southwest of France. It can also be confused with the common blackbird (Turdus merula), which differs most obviously in its longer tail and lack of plumage gloss.

Monday, 6 November 2023

2-11-2023 MARCHUQUERA, VALENCIA - SPOTLESS STARLING (Sturnus unicolor)

The spotless starling (Sturnus unicolor) is a passerine bird in the starling family, Sturnidae. It is closely related to the common starling (S. vulgaris), but has a much more restricted range, confined to the Iberian Peninsula, Northwest Africa, southernmost France, and the islands of Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia. It is largely non-migratory.

The adult spotless starling is very similar to the common starling, but marginally larger (21–23 cm length; 70–100 g weight), and has darker, oily-looking black plumage, slightly purple- or green-glossed in bright light, which is entirely spotless in spring and summer, and only with very small pale spots in winter plumage, formed by the pale tips of the feathers. It also differs in having conspicuously longer throat feathers (twice the length of those on common starlings, forming a shaggy "beard" which is particularly obvious when the bird is singing. Its legs are bright pink. In summer, the bill is yellow with a bluish base in males and a pinkish base in females; in winter, it is duller, often blackish. Young birds are dull brown, darker than young common starlings, and have a black bill and brown legs. Confusion with the common starling is particularly easy during the winter, when common starlings are abundant throughout the spotless starling's range, but also in summer where their breeding ranges overlap in northeastern Spain and the far southwest of France. It can also be confused with the common blackbird (Turdus merula), which differs most obviously in its longer tail and lack of plumage gloss.

Like the common starling, it walks rather than hops, and has a strong direct flight, looking triangular-winged and short-tailed. It is a noisy bird and a good mimic; its calls are similar to the common starling's, but louder.

The spotless starling uses a wide range of habitats and can be found in any reasonably open environment, from farmland and olive groves to human habitation. The highest population densities are in open grazed holm oak woods, and in urban habitats such as Gibraltar, where it is common. The population has grown in recent decades with a northward expansion in range, spreading to the whole of Spain (previously absent from the northeast) between 1950 and 1980, and colonising locally along the southern coast of mainland France since 1983. Like its more common relative, it is an omnivore, taking a wide variety of invertebrates, berries, and human-provided scraps. It is gregarious, forming sizeable flocks, often mixed with common starlings, of up to 100,000 in winter.

Like most starlings, it is a cavity-nesting species, breeding in tree holes, buildings and in cliff crevices. It typically lays three to five eggs.