Narrow-tailed starling

The narrow-tailed starling (Poeoptera lugubris) is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is found in West and Central Africa from Sierra Leone to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.^[1]

Narrow-tailed starling
Conservation status
Least Concern  (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Family:	Sturnidae
Genus:	Poeoptera
Species:	P. lugubris
Binomial name
Poeoptera lugubris Bonaparte, 1854

Description

The male is dark blue and the female is dark gray with chestnut-colored patches on the wings, visible in flight. Both sexes have long, narrow tails. Not a very noisy bird, this starling's vocalizations include shrill chirps, cries, and whistles.

Habitat

Its habitat is the canopy of lowland forest, making use of secondary forest and forest clearings.

Diet

It eats mostly fruit, and sometimes insects or seeds.

Behaviour

These starlings form flocks of 10-30 or more birds, and sometimes will mix with other fruit-eating birds. This bird is a colony-nester, making its nest high up in dead trees in holes originally excavated by colonial cavity-nesting barbets, sometimes with both birds nesting in close proximity. Eggs are pale blue-gray with brown spots.^[2]