Meves's Starling ( Lamprotornis mevesii, family: Sturnidae)
Birds & Birding in the Kruger National Park South Africa. In Roberts 6 this bird was called Long-tailed Starling
The Meves's Starling (Latin name Lamprotornis mevesii) is described in
Roberts Birds of Southern Africa, 7th Edition. This bird has a unique
Roberts number of 763 and you will find a full description of this bird
on page 967 also a picture of the Meves's Starling on page 976. The
Meves's Starling belongs to the family of birds classified as Sturnidae.
According to the Percy FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology the
Meves's Starling is also known by these other names: Meves' Long-tailed
Starling, Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Meves' Glossy Starling, Meves'
Long-tailed Glossy Starling, Southern Long-tailed Starling.
In the previous edition of Roberts (ie 6th edition) the Meves's Starling was called the Long-tailed 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
Near endemic species is one that is confined to a specific geographical region rather than a single country for example. Certain birds in The Kruger National Park are near endemic to Mozambique, and Zimbabwe for example. One such example is the Meves's Starling and this species depends upon a certain type of habitat for survival. Destroy that habitat and the bird becomes endangered.
In terms of distribution of the Meves's Starling in the Kruger National Park you may not see it in all areas. Meves's Starling has been recorded in only 1 sections of the arbitrary Kruger Park regions I selected.
The Meves's Starling.
Identification assistance for this avian species ...
The Meves's Starling is a bird about the same size as a starling. The
height of the Meves's Starling is about 30 cms and its weight is about
75 gms
The male and female Meves's Starling have the same plumage and colours
- Head is blue, green.
- Eye is brown.
- Bill is black.
- Throat is blue, green.
- Back is blue.
- Legs are black.
This bird has normally proportioned leg length.
Main diet items for this bird ...
The Meves's Starling feeds on the ground, and on the wing mainly
Invertebrates
Fruits
Seeds
Breeding and nesting habits for this bird ...
The Meves's Starling is monogamous unless its mate dies. In the event of a partner dying Lamprotornis mevesii will seek out a new mate
The nesting habit of Meves's Starling is to create the nest in branches of a tree or shrub. The bird lays eggs which are blue in colour and number between 1 to 4
Habitat and flocking behaviour for this bird ...
The preferred habitats for Meves's Starling are: woodlands and grasslands . The Meves's Starling is also at home in wetland and bushveld areas.
Names of this avian species in other languages ...
Xhosa ... Unknown
Zulu ... Unknown
Afrikaans ...Langstertglansspreeu
German ... Meves-Glanzstar
Portuguese ... Estorninho-rabilongo
French ... Choucador de Meves
Dutch ... Meves-Glansspreeuw
First bird in list | Previous bird viewed | Next KNP bird | Last bird in list
For in-depth birding information please refer to these authoritative avian references ...
Robert's 7th edition number ... 763
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
