Chestnut-tailed Starling (Sturnia malabarica)
Illustration redrawn by AI from a real photograph

Chestnut-tailed Starling

Sturnia malabarica (Gmelin, JF, 1789)

20 cmLength40 gWeight

This starling has a pale gray head with fine white lines, white eyes and a yellow bill.

Busiest months: February · Most records: India, China, Thailand

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

  1. Pale gray head with fine white lines
  2. White iris
  3. Yellow bill; pale blue base of the bill
  4. Nominate subspecies has rufous underparts

Male, female and young

Sexes similar; juveniles have whitish underparts and chestnut only at the tips of the tail feathers.

Where and when it's recorded

Chestnut-tailed Starling has been recorded at 556 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 12 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

  1. GKVK CampusIndia1,286 records
  2. Kerala Agricultural UniversityIndia1,034 records
  3. Saul Kere / Sowl KereIndia847 records
More places
  1. Nameri National Park & SurroundingsIndia679 records
  2. Kaohsiung – Qijin VTC TowerTaiwan (China)670 records
  3. KattampallyIndia629 records
  4. IIT BombayIndia626 records
  5. Muthanallur KereIndia556 records
  6. Kaziranga NP & Surroundings – Eastern RangeIndia547 records
  7. Sangla and AreaNepal525 records

Countries and regions with the most records

IndiaChinaThailandBangladeshNepalCambodiaLaosBhutan

eBird records via GBIF up to 2024-12-31. A record means someone listed it; more records partly mean more birders, not more birds.

About

The chestnut-tailed starling (Sturnia malabarica), also called grey-headed starling and grey-headed myna is a member of the starling family. It is a resident or partially migratory species found in wooded habitats in India and Southeast Asia. The species name is after the distribution of a former subspecies in the Malabar region.

Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia

Questions

How big is the Chestnut-tailed Starling?

The Chestnut-tailed Starling is about 20 cm long and weighs around 40 g.

Where does the Chestnut-tailed Starling live?

Its breeding range: Oriental: widespread. It is most often recorded in India, China and Thailand.

When is the best time to see the Chestnut-tailed Starling?

At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in February (Northern Hemisphere).

Is the Chestnut-tailed Starling endangered?

The IUCN Red List classifies the Chestnut-tailed Starling as Least Concern.

What does the Chestnut-tailed Starling eat?

Main food: Omnivore.

What family is the Chestnut-tailed Starling in?

It belongs to the family Starlings, Rhabdornises (Sturnidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).

At a glance

Length
20 cm
Weight
40 g
Habitat
Woodland
Diet
Omnivore
Lifestyle
Perches in trees
Migration
Partial migrant
Conservation
Least Concern
More measurements
Wing
101 mm
Tail
59 mm
Bill
21 mm
Tarsus
24 mm

Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.

Range

Oriental: widespread

Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2

Classification

Order
Passerines Passeriformes
Family
Starlings, Rhabdornises Sturnidae
Genus
Sturnia

Other birds in the genus Sturnia

White-shouldered StarlingWhite-shouldered StarlingSturnia sinensisWhite-headed StarlingWhite-headed StarlingSturnia erythropygiaMalabar StarlingMalabar StarlingSturnia blythiiBrahminy StarlingBrahminy StarlingSturnia pagodarumMetallic StarlingMetallic StarlingAplonis metallicaYellow-eyed StarlingYellow-eyed StarlingAplonis mystaceaSinging StarlingSinging StarlingAplonis cantoroidesTanimbar StarlingTanimbar StarlingAplonis crassaAtoll StarlingAtoll StarlingAplonis feadensisRennell StarlingRennell StarlingAplonis insularis
Chestnut-tailed Starling

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Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by VarmaX. ↗

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