Howdy, friends.  This week’s bird, the greater blue-eared starling, is an associate of last week’s subject, the superb starling.  The birds share some of their range and will sometimes roost together, in addition to forming flocks to forage and for protection.  Although I was able to find a number of fun pictures of this really stunning bird, info was a little harder to come by.  Lets get at it.  

Due to its extensive range, I won’t be listing the countries in which it lives, but I have included a map of its year-round range and a small area where some migrate during the dry season.  It forms large flocks of up to 300 birds, and I’m going to assume that these flocks are composed of a variety of species at times, since last week we learned that superb starlings will forage with several kinds of related birds.  It is not sexually dimorphic, but juveniles have duller plumage and black as opposed to blue underparts.  Examples of this bird found in southern Kenya and south through the rest of the continent are smaller and sometimes considered to be their own subspecies.  

Greater blue-eared starlings eat a wide variety of invertebrates, seeds, berries and fruit, but most of what they eats are insects they catch on foot.  They will also perch on animals and eat insects they find there, some of which are parasites of the larger animal.  

The birds will nest in holes in trees, either those which naturally occur or created by other birds, including woodpeckers and barbets.  As an aside, I had never heard of a barbet outside the context of a castle before, we are definitely going to learn about these stout, beak-heavy little buddies sometime soon.  The greater blue eared starling’s nesting areas may be shared with other related birds, and when not occupying a previously excavated cavity in a tree, are typically in thorn bushes like the splendid starling’s.  

Have a good weekend, be kind to yourselves and each other.

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