Greater Blue-eared Starling

Lamprotornis chalybaeus

Other Names

  Greater Blue-eared Glossy Starling, Blue-eared Starling, Blue-eared Glossy Starling   Choucador à oreillons bleus, Merle bronzé vert, Étourneau métallique commun, Merle métallique à oreillons bleus, Merle métallique commun   Grünschwanz-Glanzstar   Mirlo bronceado verde   Blåkindad glansstare, Större blåkindad glansstare   Blauwoor glansspreeuw, Purperglansspreeuw   Storno splendente guanceblu maggiore

World: Africa from Senegal and Gambia then E to Ethiopia and NW Somalia. From there the range is S through Kenya and Tanzania to Zambia, Angola and NE South Africa.

Kenya: Conspicuous and common across much of the country although absent from the E and NE.

This is a bird of open bush and woodland which is quite at home in cultivations and around human habitations. There are 2 ssps in Kenya, cyaniventris (pictured above) and sycobius. The former is common in the w and central regions including the Maasai Mara, the latter occurs widely in Tanzania but wanders to the southern and south-eastern Kenya including the coast.