Bird Album
Metallic Starling
Aplonis metallica (Temminck, 1824)
≈23 cmLength56 gWeight
The adult has red eyes, a long forked tail and black feathers with a green metallic gloss.
Busiest months: October · Most records: Australia, Papua New Guinea, Indonesia
How to identify
Field marks
- Adult’s eyes bright red
- Adult has a long forked tail
- Adult’s black feathers have a green metallic gloss
Male, female and young
Adults have black feathers with a green metallic gloss; immatures have pale underparts with dark streaks.
Where and when it's recorded
Metallic Starling has been recorded at 66 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 4 countries and regions.
Records by month Southern Hemisphere
Where it's recorded most
- Cairns EsplanadeAustralia1,760 records
- Cattana WetlandsAustralia1,418 records
- Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers LodgeAustralia1,255 records
More places
- Daintree Village Boat CruiseAustralia1,228 records
- Cairns Botanical Gardens and Centenary LakesAustralia1,199 records
- Cairns Esplanade – Northern EndAustralia756 records
- Kingfisher Park Birdwatchers Lodge – Morning WalkAustralia706 records
- Freshwater and Saltwater LakesAustralia607 records
- Tyto WetlandsAustralia544 records
- Cairns Esplanade – Southern EndAustralia399 records
Countries and regions with the most records
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 metallic starling (Aplonis metallica), also known as the shining starling, is a bird in the starling family native to the Moluccas, New Guinea, Queensland and the Solomon Islands.
Excerpt from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0 · authors · Read more on Wikipedia
Questions
How big is the Metallic Starling?
The Metallic Starling is about ≈23 cm long and weighs around 56 g.
Where does the Metallic Starling live?
Its breeding range: Australasia: Moluccas, New Guinea and satellites to northeastern Australia. It is most often recorded in Australia, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia.
When is the best time to see the Metallic Starling?
At the hotspots we track, it is recorded most in October (Southern Hemisphere).
Is the Metallic Starling endangered?
The IUCN Red List classifies the Metallic Starling as Least Concern.
What does the Metallic Starling eat?
Main food: Fruit.
What family is the Metallic Starling in?
It belongs to the family Starlings, Rhabdornises (Sturnidae), order Passerines (Passeriformes).
At a glance
- Length
- ≈23 cm
- Weight
- 56 g
- Habitat
- Forest
- Diet
- Fruit
- Lifestyle
- Perches in trees
- Migration
- Resident (barely migrates)
- Conservation
- Least Concern
More measurements
- Wing
- 107 mm
- Tail
- 100 mm
- Bill
- 23 mm
- Tarsus
- 22 mm
Averages from the AVONET dataset; length from field guides where available.
Range
Australasia: Moluccas, New Guinea and satellites to northeastern Australia
Breeding range, IOC World Bird List 15.2
Classification
- Order
- Passerines Passeriformes
- Family
- Starlings, Rhabdornises Sturnidae
- Genus
- Aplonis
Other birds in the genus Aplonis
Yellow-eyed StarlingAplonis mystacea
Singing StarlingAplonis cantoroides
Tanimbar StarlingAplonis crassa
Atoll StarlingAplonis feadensis
Rennell StarlingAplonis insularis
Long-tailed StarlingAplonis magna
White-eyed StarlingAplonis brunneicapillus
Brown-winged StarlingAplonis grandis
Makira StarlingAplonis dichroa
Rusty-winged StarlingAplonis zelandica
Striated StarlingAplonis striata
Mountain StarlingAplonis santovestris
Download illustration
Free to use with credit: “Illustration: Bird Album (birdalbum.com)”. Drawn by AI from a reference photo by Graham Winterflood. ↗
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