African Wildlife & Environment Issue 85

BIRDING

family groups. They are monogamous species, and pair for life unless the mate dies, in which case the survivor seeks a new mate to start a new family.. Unlike most other starlings, they are not particularly noisy, but can imitate a wide range of birds, with a range of about 15–20 distinct impersonations. They also mimic a few other noises besides those of wild birds. Calls of diverse organisms or those with simple frequency structures and no amplitude modulation are selectively imitated. Although many starlings have dull plumage, the male Violet-backed is a wonderful metallic colour, a characteristic shared with some other members of the family such as the Superb Starling Lamprotornis superbus and the Golden-breasted Starling Lamprotornis regius , both from East Africa, and the Metallic or Shining Starling Aplonis metallica from the Pacific Islands.

This starling is a fairly common bird in Sub Saharan Africa, occurring in most locations with the exception of the dense rainforest of the Congo Basin, and the more arid parts of central southwestern Africa. They are found in open woodland, gallery forests, forest verges and clearings, also in parks and gardens in human settlements. In the Chyulu Hills of Kenya, they occur at altitudes up to 2,100 m (6,900 ft). Food The diet includes fruits, seeds, and arthropods. Some of their favourite food items include insects such as bees, wasps, butterflies, locusts, and termite alates, with fruits like Celtis , cats-whiskers, shepherd’s tree, mulberry, and mistletoes making up the rest. They are skilled at capturing prey both on the wing and off tree branches (including tree frogs!) in a manner similar to flycatchers. They largely feed in the canopy, seldom foraging on the ground. They are also not above looting the nests of other birds by taking the nestlings, and are often among the first to arrive when ‘flying ants’ (termite elates) fill the air after a summer storm.

Distribution and habitat Three subspecies are recognised: C.l.leucogaster in Senegal and Gambia, to Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania; C.l. arabicus . in east Sudan, to northwest Somalia, and the Arabian Peninsula; and C.l. verreauxi, widespread in the south of the Democratic Republic of the Congo to west Tanzania, south to Botswana, and then northeast South Africa, and Mozambique.

58 | African Wildlife & Environment | Issue 85 (2024)