Scientific name: Lamprotornis nitens
The Cape Glossy Starling goes by a few names including Glossy Starling and Red-shouldered Glossy Starling. The plumage is a fairly uniform bright, glossy colour. The head is blue with darker ear coverts and the upper parts of the body are greenish-blue.
The Cape starling is found in the southern part of Africa. Its range encompasses the extreme south of Gabon, the west and south of Angola, the extreme south of Zambia, the southern half of Zimbabwe, Namibia, Botswana, Lesotho and South Africa.
The Cape Glossy Starling goes by a few names including Glossy Starling and Red-shouldered Glossy Starling. The plumage is a fairly uniform bright, glossy colour. The head is blue with darker ear coverts and the upper parts of the body are greenish-blue.
The Cape starling is found where trees in which it can roost and nest are found. It is not a bird of dense forest or of pasture and is not associated with any particular plant type. It does occur in open woodland, plantations, savannah, bushveld, rough grassland, parks and gardens and is quite numerous in the central Kalahari where isolated trees occur.
It usually feeds on the ground often foraging alongside other species of starlings. Its diet includes fruit, insects and nectar.
It is a host to the greater honeyguide, a brood parasite that lays its eggs in other birds' nests.
