White-cheeked Starling

Spodiopsar cineraceus (Temminck, 1835)

25 cmLength83 gWeight

It has a black head and white cheeks, often runs about foraging on the ground and tends to gather in large flocks.

Busiest months: April–May · Most records: China, Japan, South Korea

Least Concern

How to identify

Field marks

Black head and neck; slender white patches on both cheeks
Yellow bill with a black tip
Gray-brown back and breast; paler belly
White uppertail-coverts

Male, female and young

Juveniles are brown, with paler cheeks and rump and no black at the bill tip.

Voice

Loud and monotonous, consisting of a noisy series of harsh creaks.

Where and when it's recorded

White-cheeked Starling has been recorded at 1,126 of the 8,171 birding hotspots we track, in 13 countries and regions.

Records by month Northern Hemisphere

Where it's recorded most

Edogawa Ward – Kasai Rinkai Park / Kasai Kaihin ParkJapan1,798 records
Nanhui DongtanChina1,234 records
Taipei – Tianliaoyang WetlandTaiwan (China)1,161 records

More places

Nerima Ward – Shakujii ParkJapan925 records
Ota Ward – Tokyo Port Wild Bird Park (including Tidal Pond)Japan856 records
Hsinchu Coast IBA – GangnanTaiwan (China)753 records
Mai Po Nature ReserveHong Kong (China)659 records
Century ParkChina654 records
Olympic Forest Park SouthChina573 records
Funabashi – Funabashi Sanbanze Seaside ParkJapan564 records

Countries and regions with the most records

China Japan South Korea Russia Mongolia Philippines India Thailand

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 white-cheeked starling or grey starling (Spodiopsar cineraceus) is a passerine bird of the starling family. It is native to eastern Asia where it is a common and well-known bird in much of its range.

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

Questions

How big is the White-cheeked Starling?

The White-cheeked Starling is about 25 cm long and weighs around 83 g.

Where does the White-cheeked Starling live?

Its breeding range: Palearctic: southeastern Russia and Japan to central China and Korean Peninsula. It is most often recorded in China, Japan and South Korea.