Aplonis grandis
The Brown-winged Starling (Aplonis grandis) is a striking, relatively large passerine endemic to the Solomon Islands archipelago and Bougainville. Measuring approximately 27-30 cm (10.5-12 inches) in length, adults are characterized by their uniformly glossy black plumage, which shimmers with purplish-green iridescence under good light. While the body is intensely glossy, the flight feathers of the wings are a dark brown, providing a subtle contrast that gives the species its common name. Its...
This starling primarily inhabits lowland and hill forests, forest edges, and disturbed areas, often frequenting cultivated lands and secondary growth. It is found from sea level up to elevations of approximately 1500 meters.
The diet of the Brown-winged Starling is largely frugivorous, consisting mainly of various small fruits, supplemented by a significant intake of insects. They forage primarily by gleaning items from foliage and branches.
Brown-winged Starlings are diurnal, typically active from dawn to dusk, and are known to gather in communal roosts, sometimes in large numbers, outside of the breeding season. Their foraging strategy is arboreal, involving gleaning fruits and insects from tree branches and foliage, occasionally p...
The Brown-winged Starling is an endemic resident of the Solomon Islands archipelago and Bougainville, which is geographically part of the Solomons chain but politically administered by Papua New Guinea. Its distribution spans numerous islands, with three recognized subspecies demonstrating slight...
Least Concern
- The Brown-winged Starling's genus, *Aplonis*, is renowned for its remarkable radiation across the Pacific islands, with many species being island endemics. - Despite its name, the most striking visual feature of this starling is not its wings, but its intensely bright red or orange eye, which o...