Lamprotornis

Lamprotornis is a large genus of glossy starlings all of which occur in Africa south of the Sahara. They have glossy blue or green upper parts, which is due to hollow melanin granules arranged in a single layer near the feather barbule's surface. This unique arrangement led to some glossy starlings formerly placed in the genus Spreo being transferred to Lamprotornis, since they shared this feature (but see also below).

The genus Lamprotornis was introduced by the Dutch zoologist Coenraad Jacob Temminck in 1820. The type species was subsequently designated as the long-tailed glossy starling.

The under parts of these species lack iridescence. They may be blue, purple, yellow or brown. Most Lamprotornis starlings have striking yellow or red irides and some have long tails.

These glossy starlings are found in a variety of habitats from forests to open woodland and gardens. They nest in tree holes, either natural, or made by woodpeckers or barbets, and some will use man-made structures. Most species are resident apart from seasonal or local movement, but Shelley's starling is migratory. Most species are gregarious outside the breeding season.

Lamprotornis glossy starlings are omnivorous and mostly feed on the ground, although they will take fruit from trees. Some will feed on or near large mammals to find insects.

Species

The genus contains 22 species.

Common Name	Scientific name	Image	Distribution
Cape starling	Lamprotornis nitens	File:Cape starling (Lamprotornis nitens) Kruger.jpg	Southern Africa
Greater blue-eared starling	Lamprotornis chalybaeus	File:Greater blue-eared starling (Lamprotornis chalybaeus nordmanni) Kruger.jpg	Senegal east to Ethiopia and south through eastern Africa to northeastern South Africa and Angola
Lesser blue-eared starling	Lamprotornis chloropterus	File:Lesser Blue-eared Starling (Lamprotornis chloropterus), Koubalan, Senegal.jpg	widespread in sub-Saharan Africa
Bronze-tailed starling	Lamprotornis chalcurus	File:Lamprotornis chalcurus by Ron Knight at flickr.com 8080028430 aab9a80151 o.jpg	Senegal through Nigeria to South Sudan and Kenya
Splendid starling	Lamprotornis splendidus	File:Splendid Glossy Starling-Kakum N.P.-Ghana, Original by Francesco Veronesi, Dec. 07, 2014.jpg	widespread in western and central Africa
Principe starling	Lamprotornis ornatus	File:Principe glossy starling (Lamprotornis ornatus).jpg	endemic to São Tomé and Príncipe
Emerald starling	Lamprotornis iris (formerly Coccycolius iris)	File:Iris Glossy Starling - side color.jpg	Guinea, Sierra Leone and Ivory Coast
Purple starling	Lamprotornis purpureus	File:Purple Glossy-Starling (Lamprotornis purpureus) - Gambia.jpg	tropical Africa from Senegal and northern Zaire east to Sudan and west Kenya
Rüppell's starling	Lamprotornis purpuroptera	File:Lamprotornis purpuropterus Rueppell's Glossy Starling.JPG	Sudan, Eritrea and Ethiopia to Tanzania
Long-tailed glossy starling	Lamprotornis caudatus	File:Lamprotornis caudatus -Dakar -Senegal-2007.jpg	tropical Africa from Senegal east to Sudan.
Golden-breasted starling	Lamprotornis regius	File:Golden-breasted Starling Cosmopsarus regius Back 1000px.jpg	Ethiopia and Somalia to northern Tanzania
Meves's starling	Lamprotornis mevesii	File:Lamprotornis mevesii 107565583.jpg	southern Africa
Burchell's starling	Lamprotornis australis	File:Burchell's Starling (Lamprotornis australis) (16394703987).jpg	southern Africa
Sharp-tailed starling	Lamprotornis acuticaudus	File:Lamprotornis acuticaudus, Cuanavale-rivier, Birding Weto, a.jpg	southern central Africa
Superb starling	Lamprotornis superbus (formerly Spreo superbus)	File:Superb Starling Portrait.jpg	eastern Africa
Hildebrandt's starling	Lamprotornis hildebrandti (formerly Notauges hildebrandti)	File:Lamprotornis hildebrandti -Tanzania-8-2c (cropped).jpg	Ethiopia and Somalia to Kenya.
Shelley's starling,	Lamprotornis shelleyi	File:Lamprotornis shelleyi, Omo South Ethiopia, Lip Kee 2015 ((CC BY-SA 2.0).jpg	eastern Africa
Chestnut-bellied starling	Lamprotornis pulcher (formerly Spreo pulcher)	File:Chestnut-bellied starling 2 cropped.jpg	Burkina Faso and western Africa
Ashy starling	Lamprotornis unicolor (formerly Spreo unicolor)	File:Cosmopsarus unicolor (Serengeti, 2009).jpg	Kenya and Tanzania
Pied starling	Lamprotornis bicolor (formerly Spreo bicolor)	File:Lamprotornis bicolor -Rietvlei Nature Reserve, Pretoria, South Africa -adult-8.jpg	South Africa, Lesotho and Swaziland
Fischer's starling	Lamprotornis fischeri (formerly Spreo fischeri)	File:Fisher's Starling - Samburu - Kenya S4E4497 (22382989627).jpg	southern Ethiopia and Somalia to eastern Kenya and Tanzania
White-crowned starling	Lamprotornis albicapillus (formerly Spreo albicapillus)	File:Spreo albicapillus.jpg	Djibouti, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Somalia.

The limits of this genus have seen recent revision following phylogenetic analysis with molecular markers. For example, the black-bellied starling is now placed in a separate genus Notopholia. On the other hand, genera such as Coccycolius, Spreo and Compsarus were found nested in Lamprotornis and have been merged.

References

• Feare, Chris & Craig, Adrian (1999): Starlings and Mynas. Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-7136-3961-X
• Zuccon, Dario; Cibois, Anne; Pasquet, Eric & Ericson, Per G.P. (2006): Nuclear and mitochondrial sequence data reveal the major lineages of starlings, mynas and related taxa. Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 41(2): 333–344. Template:Catalog lookup link (HTML abstract)

External links

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