Greater Blue-eared Starling vs Wattled Starling

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

Wattled Starling

Creatophora cinerea

Medium73 gShrubland

The wattled starling is 21 cm long, with a short tail and pointed wings. It has mainly grey plumage except for a white rump, and black flight feathers and tail. The breeding male has a white shoulder patch and a distinctive head pattern, with unfeathered yellow skin, and black forehead and throat wattles. The extent to which these seasonal features develop increases with the age of the bird and some old females may show a weaker version of this plumage. The non-breeding male has a feathered head except for a small yellow patch behind the eye.

ID text from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

Photo: Diego Rubolini · CC BY 4.0

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