Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris) | Photos, Calls and ID

Least ConcernRareFruitForestCavity nestSmall · 39 g

Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris), photo 1 — Photo: Antoine Thivolle · CC BY 4.0

Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris), photo 2 — Photo: (c) avocat, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris), photo 3 — Photo: (c) Antoine Thivolle, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris), photo 4 — Photo: (c) Rafael Würtemberger, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris), photo 5 — Photo: (c) avocat, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris), photo 6 — Photo: (c) avocat, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

Narrow-tailed Starling (Poeoptera lugubris), photo 7 — Photo: (c) avocat, some rights reserved (CC BY) · CC-BY

About the Narrow-tailed Starling

The narrow-tailed starling is a species of starling in the family Sturnidae. It is sparsely present across the African tropical rainforest.

Text adapted from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

ID tip

The male is dark blue and the female is dark gray with chestnut-colored patches on the wings, visible in flight. Both sexes have long, narrow tails. Not a very noisy bird, this starling's vocalizations include shrill chirps, cries, and whistles.

Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.

Where it lives

Regular rangeRare visitor

Uganda Ghana Congo - Kinshasa Cameroon Angola Nigeria Côte d’Ivoire Gabon

Recorded as a rare visitor in Equatorial Guinea, Central African Republic, Congo - Brazzaville.

When to see it

JFMAMJJASOND

Peak activity in July · a resident species across most of its range

Easily confused with

Stuhlmann's StarlingPoeoptera stuhlmanniStuhlmann's starling is a blue-black to blue-grey bird, with males appearing slightly darker and glossier on average than females.

Kenrick's StarlingPoeoptera kenrickiKenrick's starling is a medium-sized bird with male weighing 50g and females weighing 38g.

Learn the Narrow-tailed Starling for real

BeakBrain drills you on photos and calls until you can greet this bird by name in the field. Free to play, on any device.

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