The long-tailed starling (''Aplonis magna'') is a species of

starling Starlings are small to medium-sized passerine (perching) birds known for the often dark, glossy iridescent sheen of their plumage; their complex vocalizations including mimicking; and their distinctive, often elaborate swarming behavior, know ...

in the family Sturnidae. It is

endemic Endemism is the state of a species being found only 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 foun ...

to the

Schouten Islands The Biak Islands (, also Schouten Islands or Geelvink Islands) are an island group of Southwest Papua province, eastern Indonesia in the Cenderawasih Bay (or Geelvink Bay) 50 km off the north-western coast of the island of New Guinea. Th ...

off West Papua, in

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

, an important area of bird endemism. The species was once treated as part of a superspecies with the shining starling. There are two subspecies, the nominate race, which occurs on

Biak Biak is the main island of Biak Archipelago located in Cenderawasih Bay near the northern coast of Papua (province), Papua, an Indonesian province, and is just northwest of New Guinea. Biak has many atolls, reefs, and corals. The largest popula ...

, and ''brevicauda'', which is found on Numfor Island. It occurs in a wide range of habitats at all altitudes, including natural forest and forest edges, as well as human modified secondary forests and gardens. In spite of its tiny global range the species is not considered threatened by human activities and remains common within its range, and is therefore listed as

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

by the

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natural resources. Founded in 1948, IUCN has become the global authority on the status ...

. The long-tailed starling is a large starling, ranging from in length, including the tail. There are no differences between the sexes. The tail is very long, as long or longer than the body in the nominate race, although in the race ''brevicauda'' it is only two-thirds as long as the body. In the wild they cock and fan these large tails. The

plumage Plumage () is a layer of feathers that covers a bird and the pattern, colour, and arrangement of those feathers. The pattern and colours of plumage differ between species and subspecies and may vary with age classes. Within species, there can b ...

of this species is black with an oily green gloss over the body, although the subspecies ''brevicauda'' is less glossy than the nominate. The gloss on the head is bronze coloured and the feathers of the fore-head are bristled. The feet and bill are black, and the iris is brown. Little is known about the biology of this species. They are conspicuous birds, sitting in prominent open perches in trees in a manner reminiscent of a drongo. Its calls have been described as a series of loud warbles, and it also gives a descending slurred "cheeeuw". The species occurs in small groups or in pairs, foraging for fruit in trees and in the undergrowth. Nothing is known about its breeding biology apart from that it nests high in trees.

References

External links

*Long-tailed starling
Species text in The Atlas of Southern African Birds
{{Taxonbar, from=Q948662 long-tailed starling Birds of the Schouten Islands Endemic fauna of the Biak–Numfoor rain forests long-tailed starling Taxonomy articles created by Polbot Endemic birds of Indonesia