The fiery-browed starling or fiery-browed myna (''Enodes erythrophris'') is a species of

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine birds in the family Sturnidae. The Sturnidae are named for the genus ''Sturnus'', which in turn comes from the Latin word for starling, ''sturnus''. Many Asian species, particularly the larger ones, ...

in the family Sturnidae. It is

monotypic In biology, a monotypic taxon is a taxonomic group (taxon) that contains only one immediately subordinate taxon. A monotypic species is one that does not include subspecies or smaller, infraspecific taxa. In the case of genera, the term "unispec ...

within the genus ''Enodes''. Distinguished by a reddish-orange stripe over the eye, it is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found els ...

to the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

n island of Sulawesi, mainly living in humid highland forest.

Taxonomy

Coenraad Jacob Temminck Coenraad Jacob Temminck (; 31 March 1778 – 30 January 1858) was a Dutch aristocrat, zoologist and museum director. Biography Coenraad Jacob Temminck was born on 31 March 1778 in Amsterdam in the Dutch Republic. From his father, Jacob Temm ...

described this species by the name ''Lamprotornis erythrophris'' in 1824, and then moved it to the genus ''Enodes'' in 1839. It is

within the genus ''Enodes'', being the only species currently recognised.

Joseph Harvey Riley Joseph Harvey Riley (September 19, 1873 – December 17, 1941) was an American ornithologist. Born in Falls Church, Virginia, Riley was employed at the Smithsonian Institution from 1896 until his death, becoming Associate Curator of the Division of ...

described subspecies ''centralis'' in 1920, and

Erwin Stresemann Erwin Friedrich Theodor Stresemann (22 November 1889, in Dresden – 20 November 1972, in East Berlin) was a German naturalist and ornithologist. Stresemann was an ornithologist of extensive breadth who compiled one of the first and most compr ...

described subspecies ''leptorhynchus'' in 1932. The ''

Handbook of the Birds of the World The ''Handbook of the Birds of the World'' (HBW) is a multi-volume series produced by the Spanish publishing house Lynx Edicions in partnership with BirdLife International. It is the first handbook to cover every known living species of bird. ...

'' lists these two subspecies as "provisionally recognized" because they may only be colour variants, while the

IOC World Bird List ''Birds of the World: Recommended English Names'' is a paperback book, written by Frank Gill and Minturn Wright on behalf of the International Ornithologists' Union. The book is an attempt to produce a standardized set of English names for all b ...

does not recognise any subspecies.

Description

The fiery-browed starling is long. The male and female are similar. The crown, back, throat, breast and belly are dark grey. A bright reddish-orange

supercilium The supercilium is a plumage feature found on the heads of some bird species. It is a stripe which runs from the base of the bird's beak above its eye, finishing somewhere towards the rear of the bird's head.Dunn and Alderfer (2006), p. 10 Also k ...

starts from the base of the beak and extends over the eye, the feathers behind the eye being black. The flight feathers are brown, their outer webs and the

wing covert A covert feather or tectrix on a bird is one of a set of feathers, called coverts (or ''tectrices''), which, as the name implies, cover other feathers. The coverts help to smooth airflow over the wings and tail. Ear coverts The ear coverts are s ...

s covering them being olive-yellow. The rump is golden, and the graduated tail is olive-yellow, with a cream tip. The beak is black, and the legs are yellow.

Distribution and habitat

This species is endemic to the island of Sulawesi in Indonesia. It is found at elevations of , living mainly in montane

rainforest Rainforests are characterized by a closed and continuous tree canopy, moisture-dependent vegetation, the presence of epiphytes and lianas and the absence of wildfire. Rainforest can be classified as tropical rainforest or temperate rainfo ...

and also in lowland forest,

elfin forest Dwarf forest, elfin forest, or pygmy forest is an uncommon ecosystem featuring miniature trees, inhabited by small species of fauna such as rodents and lizards. They are usually located at high elevations, under conditions of sufficient air humi ...

and

forest edge A woodland edge or forest edge is the transition zone (ecotone) from an area of woodland or forest to fields or other open spaces. Certain species of plants and animals are adapted to the forest edge, and these species are often more familiar to hu ...

Behaviour

This starling usually occurs in pairs or groups, and sometimes large flocks. It eats invertebrates and fruit, often climbing tree trunks to search for food. Mixed flocks with the Sulawesi myna and grosbeak starling, both also endemic to Sulawesi, have been observed at fruit-bearing trees. Calls recorded include , ''tik tik'' and various guttural notes, and the song is a repeated metallic ''zeek zeek''.

Status

This species has a small range, and its population appears to be in decline, but the

International Union for Conservation of Nature The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natur ...

(IUCN) considers that there are no substantial threats and lists it as a

least-concern species A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q2535971 Birds described in 1824 Endemic birds of Sulawesi Sturnidae Taxonomy articles created by Polbot