Lamprotornis superbus
The Superb Starling, *Lamprotornis superbus*, is a dazzling passerine bird renowned for its iridescent plumage, making it one of East Africa's most recognizable avian residents. Averaging 18-19 cm in length and weighing 52-69 grams, adults boast a striking metallic blue-green back, head, and upper breast, contrasting sharply with a bright white breast band and a rufous-chestnut belly. Its vivid orange-yellow eyes are a distinctive field mark that stand out against its dark head. Taxonomically...
This adaptable species inhabits a variety of semi-arid to sub-humid environments, primarily found in acacia woodlands, open savannas, bushland, scrub, and increasingly in cultivated lands and near human settlements. They thrive from sea level up to elevations of approximately 2,200 meters.
The Superb Starling is an omnivorous opportunistic feeder, primarily consuming insects such as grasshoppers, beetles, termites, and ants, which it gleans from the ground. Its diet also includes a significant proportion of fruits, berries, seeds, nectar, and occasionally small vertebrates or human...
Superb Starlings are highly social and diurnal, spending their days foraging actively before gathering in large, noisy communal roosts at night, often in dense thorn trees or reed beds for safety. Their foraging strategy involves extensive ground gleaning, where they walk or hop, probing the soil...
The Superb Starling is a widespread and resident species found throughout East Africa, extending across Ethiopia, Somalia, Djibouti, South Sudan, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania. Its distribution spans from the arid lowlands of the Horn of Africa, southwards through the Great Rift Valley, to the nort...
Least Concern
- The iridescent plumage of a Superb Starling is structural, meaning its color changes dramatically with the angle of light, appearing sapphire blue, emerald green, or deep violet. - They are well-known cooperative breeders, with non-breeding individuals (often offspring from previous broods) hel...