Cape Starling vs Greater Blue-eared Starling

Cape Starling

Lamprotornis nitens

Medium86 gGrassland

The Cape starling has an adult length of about 25 cm (10 in) and weight of about 100 grams (3.5 oz). The plumage of an adult bird is a fairly uniform bright, glossy colour. The head is blue with darker ear coverts and the upper parts of the body are greenish-blue. It has a lengthy warbling song which may include an imitation of sounds it hears in its environment.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: sableplains · CC BY 4.0

Greater Blue-eared Starling

Lamprotornis chalybaeus

Medium86 gShrubland

The greater blue-eared starling is a 22 cm long, short tailed bird. This starling is glossy blue-green with a purple-blue belly and blue ear patch. Its iris is bright yellow or orange. The sexes are similar, but the juvenile is duller and has blackish brown underparts. The populations from southern Kenya southwards are smaller than northern birds and are sometimes considered to be a separate subspecies, L. c. sycobius. The lesser blue-eared starling is similar to this species, but the blue of the belly does not extend forward of the legs.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: flowcomm · CC BY 2.0

Photos and recordings are credited to their authors under the licence shown. Full profiles: Cape Starling and Greater Blue-eared Starling.