Violet-backed Starling (Cinnyricinclus leucogaster)

+ vote

Comments (23)

Well done Liam! Great to have an answer on this one.

Once again Liam, right ID !! I'm jealous of your knowledge ;-) I Have to practice a little bit more!

I signed up Liam and it's posted ;-)

Here's the subforum for identification: http://www.birdforum.net/forumdisplay.php?f=114 If you don't wish to sign up, I could post for you.

Hi Liam, sorry i didn't have the time yet. The site you mean is http://www.birdforum.net/ ? If so, I have to create an account. I'm also curious about the result.

I'm very interested in seeing how this ID is resolved, have you tried Birdforum yet?

Hi Liam, thanks for the suggestion ! But the belly of this bird was dark (brown or black i suppose) the shape and size of the violet-backed starling are almost the same, I think this one was a little smaller. I regret that I couldn't take clearer picture.

Tail and bill are reminiscent of that of a starling. I'm color deficient, but I'm told violet has a shade of red in it. I imagine in particular lighting, it could be seen as red on a bird like this. You may want to run it through to BirdForum, though.

I'll check again later Isabella, but I hope Liam (or somebody else) pops in! It might be one for BirdForum. Good luck in the mean time with your searches!

Whoeha, complicated puzzle !!!

Another reference not showing the black-bellied one in Ethiopia... http://www.birdlife.org/datazone/speciesfactsheet.php?id=8631

EOL and IUCN don't show it in Ethiopia either... My guide shows Jameson's firefinch in Ethiopia, as well as the African (bluebilled) firefinch. But the wings don't seem pink on those...

Elsa

Actually, black-bellied is somewhat of an indication.. hehe missed that part.

Elsa

I was wondering that too, but then the narrow beak (though the angle can make it look narrower than it really is) and dark belly.. It's a puzzle..

My field guide refers to part of Kenya and Uganda ...

It does look possible doesn't it? My field guide doesn't show the distribution extending into Ethiopia though... I'm checking other references/reports...

Could this be a Black bellied fire-finch ?? http://ibc.lynxeds.com/video/black-bellied-firefinch-lagonosticta-rara/ground

@ Daniele, yes it was really old-pink, i had never seen that color before so far i remember it was bigger than a bishop and smaller than a starling. @ Elsa, thanks I check your suggestions !

Elsa

Interesting bird! The beak makes me think something in the Wheatear or Flycatcher category..

Also, was the colour really pink, or rather reddish-orange as the picture seems to suggest?

Thanks for your reply Isabella! The plot thickens :-) Any idea about size?

Hi Daniele, thanks for the suggestion, but i think it wasn't a bishop because his head was also pink and he was very shiny like a starling, i have seen already the Red Bishop, this one was totaly different, but my pic isn't very clear he was too fast for me ;-))