The Red-Winged Starling (Onychognathus morio) is a medium-sized African bird in the Sturnidae family.
The Red-Winged Starling has iridescent black feathers with rufous (red-brown) flight feathers. The female has an ash-grey head and upper chest. It has dark eyes, a thick black beak, and black legs.
Red-Winged Starling (female)
It grows to 27-30 centimetres (11-12 inches) tall.
The Red-Winged Starling is native to east Africa, in countries from Ethiopia and Somalia to Kenya and Tanzania, and to South Africa. It prefers forests, savannahs, grasslands, wetlands, and farmlands. It is also common in urban areas.
It is an omnivore, eating everything from seeds, fruit and berries to small invertebrates, such as beetles and other insects, as well as human food scraps.
The Red-Winged Starling is territorial, and chases away other birds, and domestic animals, from its territory.
It lives in flocks. It nests on rocky cliffs or ledges. It has a mud-based nest lined with grass and twigs. Females lay 2-4 blue speckled eggs. Females sit on the eggs to incubuate them, which hatch after 13-14 days.
Red-Winged Starling (female)
Red-Winged Starling (male and female)
Red-Winged Starling (male)
Red-Winged Starling (male)
Red-Winged Starling (male)
Red-Winged Starling (female)
Red-Winged Starling (female)
Photographer: Martina Nicolls
Martina Nicolls: SIMILAR BUT DIFFERENT IN THE ANIMAL KINGDOM