Pied Starling

Lamprotornis bicolor (Gmelin, JF, 1789)

Pied Starling, Lamprotornis bicolor, breeds in southern Africa from Botswana through Lesotho and South Africa. It is a bird of open country, including grassland, karoo scrub, thornbush and farmland, and it is often seen around livestock. The species is common across much of its range, though it is missing from the dry north-west and the eastern lowlands of South Africa. Adults are mostly dull-gloss black, with a white lower belly and undertail, a white iris and a yellow lower mandible. The sexes look the same, while juveniles are less glossy and have a brown iris.

Order

Passeriformes

Family

Sturnidae — Starlings, Rhabdornises

Breeding range

Africa: s Botswana through Lesotho and South Africa