Chestnut-tailed Starling

Chestnut-tailed Starling
Sturnia m. malabarica on Kapok tree in Kolkata, India
Conservation status
Least Concern (IUCN 3.1)[1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Aves
Order:	Passeriformes
Suborder:	Passeri
Infraorder:	Muscicapoidea
Family:	Sturnidae
Genus:	Sturnia
Species:	S. malabarica
Binomial name
Sturnia malabarica (Gmelin, 1789)
Synonyms
Temenuchus malabaricus

The Chestnut-tailed Starling or Grey-headed Myna (Sturnia malabarica^[2][3] ) is a member of the starling family of perching birds. 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. This resident population has a white head and is often treated as a full species, the Malabar Starling (Sturnia blythii).

Taxonomy and distribution

The lack of monophyly in the earlier starling genera has led to this species being placed variously under genus Sturnia, Sturnus and Temenuchus in the past (Zuccon et al., 2006) and studies have suggested the reuse of an old name Temenuchus for members of this clade.^[3] Later studies have suggested placement in the genus Sturnia.^[2]

There are three subspecies of the Chestnut-tailed Starling:

• S. m. malabarica: North-eastern India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and north-western Burma.
• S. malabarica nemoricola: Southern China (incl. Taiwan), Burma, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam and Cambodia.
• S. malabarica blythii: Western Ghats in India.

Both the nominate subspecies and nemoricola are known to perform some poorly understood movements (e.g. S. m. malabarica has been recorded from Pakistan and in central and southern India).

The taxon blythii is sometimes (e.g. Rasmussen & Anderton, 2005) considered a valid species, the Malabar White-headed Starling or White-headed Myna (Sturnia blythii), instead of a subspecies of Sturnia malabarica. As S. m. malabarica only visits the range of blythii during the non-breeding period (winter), the two are not known to interbreed. However a molecular study found the genetic divergence between S. malabarica blythii not significantly greater (between 0.2% and 0.8%) than between the sisters S. malabarica malabarica of northern India and S. malabarica nemoricola of Burma and Vietnam.^[2]

Description

Sturnia malabarica blythii

The adults have a total length of approximately 20 cm (8 in). They have grey upperparts and blackish remiges, but the colour of the remaining plumage depend 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 flanks and crissum). The nominate and nemoricola have a light grey head with whitish streaking (especially on crown and collar region). In blythii, the head and chest are white. All subspecies have white irides 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.

Behaviour

The Chestnut-tailed Starling's nest is typically found in open woodland and cultivation. The Chestnut-tailed Starling builds a nest in hole. The normal clutch is 3-5 eggs.

Like most starlings, the Chestnut-tailed Starling is fairly omnivorous, eating fruit, nectar and insects. They fly in tight flocks and often rapidly change directions with great synchrony.

Subspecies blythii from Cotigao National Park, Goa, India

Notes

1. ^ BirdLife International (2004). Sturnus malabaricus. 2006. IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. IUCN 2006. www.iucnredlist.org. Retrieved on 12 May 2006.
2. ^ ^{a b c} Zuccon, D., Pasquet, E. & Ericson, P. G. P. (2008). Phylogenetic relationships among Palearctic–Oriental starlings and mynas (genera Sturnus and Acridotheres : Sturnidae). Zoologica Scripta, 37:469–481 PDF
3. ^ ^{a b} Lovette, I., McCleery, B., Talaba, A., & Rubenstein, D. (2008). "A complete species-level molecular phylogeny for the “Eurasian” starlings (Sturnidae: Sturnus, Acridotheres, and allies): Recent diversification in a highly social and dispersive avian group.". Molecular Phylogenetics & Evolution 47 (1): 251–260. doi:10.1016/j.ympev.2008.01.020. PMID 18321732. http://www.dustinrubenstein.com/webpage/PUBLICATIONS_files/MPE2008.pdf. ^{[dead link]}

References

• Grimmett, Richard; Inskipp, Carol, Inskipp, Tim & Byers, Clive (1999): Birds of India, Pakistan, Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N.J.. ISBN 0-691-04910-6
• Rasmussen, Pamela C. & Anderton John C. (2005): Birds of South Asia: The Ripley Guide. Smithsonian Institution and Lynx Edicions. ISBN 8487334679
• Zuccon D, Cibois A, Pasquet E, Ericson PG. (2006) Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data reveal the major lineages of starlings, mynas and related taxa. Mol Phylogenet Evol. 41(2):333-44.