Black-bellied Starling ( Lamprotornis corruscus, family: Sturnidae)

The Black-bellied Starling (Latin name Lamprotornis corruscus) is described in Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique Roberts number of 768 and you will find a full description of this bird on page 962 also a picture of the Black-bellied Starling on page 976. The Black-bellied Starling belongs to the family of birds classified as Sturnidae. According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the Black-bellied Starling is also known by these other names: Black-breasted Glossy Starling, Black-bellied Glossy Starling.

The map of the Kruger you see on this page shows the areas (coloured orange) where this bird has been identified. The basic information was provided by the Avian Demographic Unit based at UCT and I created the maps from that information ... the green dots show the locations of the various Kruger National Park Rest Camps

The Black-bellied Starling is neither Endemic or near Endemic to the Kruger National Park.

In terms of distribution of the Black-bellied Starling in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Black-bellied Starling : see above distribution map.

Identification assistance for this avian species ...

One of the first indicators to take note of when trying to identify a bird is it relative size. For example how big is the bird compared to a well known familiar bird. The Black-bellied Starling is a small bird about the size of a house sparrow. Do not take this relative indicator as anything other than a rough easy to remember indicator. It is not a accurate visualization. The height of the Black-bellied Starling is about 18 cms and its weight is about 50 gms

You will find that the male Black-bellied Starling plumage and colours are different to that of the female Black-bellied Starling

  • Head is green.
  • Eye is orange.
  • Bill is black.
  • Throat is violet.
  • Back is green.
  • Legs are black.

This bird has normally proportioned leg length.

Main diet items for this bird ...

The Black-bellied Starling feeds on the ground and in foliage mainly

Invertebrates

Seeds

Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...

The Black-bellied Starling is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Lamprotornis corruscus will seek out a new mate

The nesting habit of Black-bellied Starling is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are white in colour and number between 2 to 4

Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...

The preferred habitats for Black-bellied Starling are: woodlands and grasslands

You will normally see the Black-bellied Starling in flocks.

Names of this avian species in other languages ...

Xhosa ... Intenenengu/Isithenenengu

Zulu ... iKhwezi/iKhwinsi

Afrikaans ...Swartpensglansspreeu

German ... Schwarzbauch-Glanzstar

Portuguese ... Estorninho-de-barriga-preta

French ... Choucador ventre noir

Dutch ... Zwartbuik-Glansspreeuw

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For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...

Robert's 7th edition number ... 768

The main reference source for this data was "Roberts - Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition" . Other references were "Newmans Birds of the Kruger Park" by Keith Newman published circa 1980 . Names in foreign languages were obtained from the Percy Fitzpatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town website , www.fitzpatrick.uct.ac.za