Red-winged Starling spotted in Jurong
Posted by BESG on 3 February 09, Tuesday
Contributed by Choo Teik Ju
A Red-winged Starling (Onychognathus morio) was spotted at Jurong Lake Park by Choo Teik Ju a.k.a choo in early December 2008.
Teik Ju initially thought it was a crow but then the bill was not as thick as the crow’s. It was actually a Red-winged Starling, native to eastern Africa, from Ethiopia to the Cape in South Africa.
In its native countries the starling is common in urban areas, using buildings and other man-made structures as nesting sites. The bird is highly territorial, aggressive and when nesting, will attack other species, including dogs and cats and even humans. It is omnivorous, taking a wide range of foods. In addition, it is a scavenger. Ideal for our hawker centres?
It must be an escapee. We are seeing more and more escapees in Singapore.
Image by Choo Teik Ju.
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This post is a cooperative effort between www.naturepixels.org and BESG to bring the study of bird behaviour through photography to a wider audience.
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Categories: Species
Comment by Subaraj
Made Wednesday, 4 of February , 2009 at 10:10 am
Considering that ther bird park isn’t too far away and that they house African starlings in their waterfall aviary, I would suspect that as the source of your sighting. I have seen a couple of African glossy starling species outside the enclosure and escapees are well known from this display.
At the Cape Point in South Africa, this species hangs around the restaurant and swipes food right out of your fingers and mouths!
