The violet-backed starling (''Cinnyricinclus leucogaster''), also known as the plum-coloured starling or amethyst starling, or Ndambamukula in the Luvenḓa (Venḓa) language, is a relatively small species (17 cm) 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 the only member of the

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

''Cinnyricinclus''. This strongly

sexually dimorphic Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

species is found widely in the woodlands and savannah forest edges of mainland

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

. It is rarely seen on the ground, but instead found in trees and other locations away from the ground.

Taxonomy

The violet-backed starling was described by the French polymath

Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon Georges-Louis Leclerc, Comte de Buffon (; 7 September 1707 – 16 April 1788) was a French Natural history, naturalist, mathematician, and cosmology, cosmologist. He held the position of ''intendant'' (director) at the ''Jardin du Roi'', now ca ...

in 1775 in his '' Histoire Naturelle des Oiseaux''. The bird was also illustrated in a hand-coloured plate engraved by

François-Nicolas Martinet François-Nicolas Martinet (1731 - c. 1800) was a French engineer, engraver and naturalist. Although trained as an engineer and draftsman, he began to produce engravings for books and it later became his primary profession. Martinet's year of b ...

in the , which was produced under the supervision of

Edme-Louis Daubenton Edme-Louis Daubenton (12 August 1730 – 12 December 1785) was a French naturalist. Daubenton was the cousin of another French naturalist, Louis Jean-Marie Daubenton. Georges-Louis Leclerc, the Comte de Buffon engaged Edme-Louis Daubenton to su ...

to accompany Buffon's text. Neither the plate caption nor Buffon's description included a scientific name but in 1783 the Dutch naturalist

Pieter Boddaert Pieter Boddaert (1730 – 6 May 1795) was a Dutch physician and naturalist. Early life, family and education Boddaert was the son of a Middelburg jurist and poet by the same name (1694–1760). The younger Pieter obtained his M.D. at the Univers ...

coined the

binomial name In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin grammatical forms, altho ...

''Turdus leucogaster'' in his catalogue of the ''Planches Enluminées''. The type locality is

Benin Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, is a country in West Africa. It was formerly known as Dahomey. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the north-west, and Niger to the north-east. The majority of its po ...

in West Africa. The violet-backed starling is now the only species placed in the

''Cinnyricinclus'' that was introduced by the French naturalist

René Lesson René Primevère Lesson (20 March 1794 – 28 April 1849) was a French surgery, surgeon, natural history, naturalist, ornithologist, and herpetologist. Biography Lesson was born at Rochefort, Charente-Maritime, Rochefort, and entered the Naval ...

in 1840. The violet-backed starling was designated as the

type species In International_Code_of_Zoological_Nomenclature, zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the spe ...

by the English naturalist

George Robert Gray George Robert Gray (8 July 1808 – 6 May 1872) was an English zoology, zoologist and author, and head of the Ornithology, ornithological section of the British Museum, now the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum, London f ...

in 1855. The genus name is combines ''

Cinnyris ''Cinnyris'' is a genus of sunbirds. Its members are sometimes included in ''Nectarinia''. They are generally known as double-collared sunbirds because the fringe of their bib usually includes a band of contrastingly coloured feathers. The sunb ...

'', a genus of

sunbirds Sunbirds and spiderhunters make up the family (biology), family Nectariniidae of passerine birds. They are small, slender passerines from the Old World, usually with downward-curved bills. Many are brightly coloured, often with iridescent feathe ...

that had been introduced by the French naturalist

Georges Cuvier Jean Léopold Nicolas Frédéric, baron Cuvier (23 August 1769 – 13 May 1832), known as Georges Cuvier (; ), was a French natural history, naturalist and zoology, zoologist, sometimes referred to as the "founding father of paleontology". Cuv ...

in 1816, and the

Neo-Latin Neo-LatinSidwell, Keith ''Classical Latin-Medieval Latin-Neo Latin'' in ; others, throughout. (also known as New Latin and Modern Latin) is the style of written Latin used in original literary, scholarly, and scientific works, first in Italy d ...

meaning "thrush". The specific ''leucogaster'' is from the

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek (, ; ) includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the classical antiquity, ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Greek ...

meaning "white" and ' meaning "belly".

Subspecies

Three

subspecies In Taxonomy (biology), biological classification, subspecies (: subspecies) is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (Morphology (biology), morpholog ...

are recognised: * ''C. l. leucogaster'' (

Boddaert Pieter Boddaert (1730 – 6 May 1795) was a Dutch physician and naturalist. Early life, family and education Boddaert was the son of a Middelburg jurist and poet by the same name (1694–1760). The younger Pieter obtained his M.D. at the Universi ...

, 1783) – Senegal and Gambia to Ethiopia, Kenya and Tanzania * ''C. l. arabicus'' Grant, CHB & Mackworth-Praed, 1942 – east Sudan to northwest Somalia and the Arabian Peninsula * ''C. l. verreauxi'' ( Finsch & Hartlaub, 1870) – south DR Congo to west Tanzania south to Botswana, northeast South Africa and Mozambique

Description

The violet-backed starling is a sexually dimorphic species with adults reaching a length of about . The male has an iridescent violet head and back and pure white underparts. The female has a thrush-like appearance with brown, boldly-streaked upper parts and white, heavily-streaked underparts. Both sexes have yellow irises and black bills and legs.

Distribution and habitat

The violet-backed starling is a common bird in Sub-Saharan Africa, occurring in most locations with the exception of the dense rainforest of the

Congo Basin The Congo Basin () is the sedimentary basin of the Congo River. The Congo Basin is located in Central Africa, in a region known as west equatorial Africa. The Congo Basin region is sometimes known simply as the Congo. It contains some of the larg ...

, and the more arid parts of southwestern Africa. It is found in open woodland, gallery forests, forest verges and clearings. In the

Chyulu Hills The Chyulu Hills is a mountain range in Makueni County in southeastern Kenya. It forms a 100-kilometre-long volcanic field in an elongated northwest–southeast direction. Its highest peak is 2,188 metres high. The Leviathan Cave (also ...

of Kenya, it occurs at altitudes up to .

Behaviour

The diet of the violet-backed starling includes fruits, seeds and arthropods. It sometimes hawks for insects in a manner similar to flycatchers. It largely feeds in the canopy, seldom foraging on the ground. The nest is usually located in a crevice in a tree within a few metres of the ground. Nesting material includes green leaves and dung. The female will incubate the clutch of two to four eggs, which are pale blue with reddish/brown spots, for 12–14 days. The male will help feed chicks until they fledge after about 21 days.

Gallery

File:Cinnyricinclus leucogaster, Pilanesberg 11.jpg, Male violet-backed starling, Pilanesberg NP, South Africa File:Cinnyricinclus leucogaster, Pilanesberg 6.jpg, Female violet-backed starling, Pilanesberg NP, South Africa

References

External links

"Plumcoloured Starling"
''The Atlas of Southern African Birds''.
Xeno-canto: audio recordings of the violet-backed starling
{{Taxonbar, from=Q694756 Violet-backed starling Birds of Sub-Saharan Africa Violet-backed starling Taxa named by Pieter Boddaert Taxonomy articles created by Polbot